Major stars in Sagittarius

Kaus Australis – ε Sagittarii (Epsilon Sagittarii)

Epsilon Sagittarii is a binary star approximately 143 light years distant. It is a blue
class B giant with an apparent magnitude of 1.79 and a luminosity 375 times that of
the Sun. Kaus Australis is the brightest star in the constellation Sagittarius and the
36th brightest star in the sky. It has a faint 14th magnitude companion 32 arc
seconds away.

The star’s traditional name, Kaus Australis, comes from the Arabic word for “bow”
(qaws) and the Latin word for “southern” (australis). The star marks the base of the
archer’s bow. Together with the stars Delta (Kaus Media) and Lambda Sagittarii (Kaus
Borealis), Epsilon Sagittarii represents the archer’s bow.

Nunki – σ Sagittarii (Sigma Sagittarii)

Sigma Sagittarii is the second brightest star in the constellation Sagittarius. It is a
hydrogen fusing dwarf star that belongs to the spectral type B2.5 V. It has an
apparent magnitude of 2.1. The star has a luminosity 3,300 times that of the Sun and
about seven solar masses. It is a very fast rotator, spinning with a speed of more than
200 kilometres per second, which is about 100 times faster than the Sun. The star lies
approximately 228 light years from Earth.

Sigma Sagittarii is sometimes also known as Nunki. This is the star’s modern name,
which is either Babylonian or Assyrian in origin. The significance of the name is
unknown, except that it is a proper name. It was recovered by archaeologists and
made public by Richard Hinckley Allen in his book Star names, their lore and
meaning.

Nunki has a faint (magnitude 9.5) companion about 5.2 arc minutes away. Nunki is
located close to the eclipic and it can sometimes be occulted by the Moon and, very
rarely, by planets. The star was last occulted by a planet on November 17, 1981,
when Venus passed in front of it.

Sigma Sagittarii is also notable for being the brightest star that can be occulted by an
exterior planet. This, however, only applies to Mars and it happens very rarely. The
last occultation occurred on September 3, 423.