Kaus Media – δ Sagittarii (Delta Sagittarii)

Delta Sagittarii is a multiple star system approximately 306 light years distant in the
constellation Sagittarius. It has an apparent magnitude of 2.72 and belongs to the
spectral type K3III.

Delta Sagittarii has a radius 62 times solar, a mass about five times solar, and is 1180
times more luminous than the Sun. The star’s traditional name, Kaus Media, means
“the middle bow.” The primary star in the Delta Sagittarii system has three dim
companions: Delta Sagittarii B, a 14th magnitude star 26 arc seconds away, Delta
Sagittarii C, a 15th magnitude star 40 arc seconds away, and Delta Sagittarii D, a 13th
magnitude star 58 arc seconds away.

The Delta Sagittarii system is known in fiction from William R. Forstchen’s 1969
novel Into the Sea of Stars. It is the destination of a crew of women who travel
onboard the Colonial Unit 122 to the Delta Sagittarii star system carrying a supply of
sperm purged of the Y chromosome.

Kaus Borealis – λ Sagittarii (Lambda Sagittarii)

Lambda Sagittarii is an orange giant star, belonging to the spectral class K1+IIIb, with
an apparent magnitude of 2.82. It is approximately 77.3 light years distant. It has a
radius 11 times solar and is 52 times more luminous than the Sun. Lambda Sagittarii
is what astronomers sometimes refer to as a clump star: one undergoing the final
stages of its existence, but stable nevertheless and fusing helium into carbon and
oxygen in its core.

The star’s traditional name, Kaus Borealis, means “the northern bow.” It marks the top
of the centaur’s bow. Since it lies very close to the ecliptic, Lambda Sagittarii is
occasionally occulted by the Moon and, more rarely, by planets. The last time this
happened was on November 19, 1984, when Venus passed in front of the star,
eclipsing it. Before that, Mercury occulted the star on December 5, 1865.

Lambda Sagittarii marks the handle of the Teapot asterism (see below) and points to
the famous interstellar cloud, the Lagoon Nebula.