The graceful bird is laid out southward from Deneb along the Milky Way. If you have a telescope, be sure to put it on Albireo. Nestled within and near the Summer Triangle are two nice small constellations. Inside the Triangle, just north of Altair, a row of dim stars form Sagitta, the arrow. Since the arrow lies between the great birds of heaven, it can easily be imagined as having been shot at them, narrowly missing both birds.
Sagitta is superimposed on a bright portion of the Milky Way.
East of the Milky Way, lower than Sagitta and just outside the Triangle, a faint patch of stars mark Delphinus, the dolphin, messenger of the sea god Poseidon. The body of the dolphin is formed by a small oval of four dim stars and another star to the south marks the dolphin's tail. This same little group was thought of as a Bow by the Skidi band of Pawnee Indians. Thus, if we are willing to mix two very different and separate cultures, we have both bow and arrow in our summer evening sky. Three stars, Vega in Lyra, Altair in Aquila, and Deneb in Cygnus can direct you onto the boulevard of heavenly light, soaring on wings of eagles and swans, powered by songs from Olympic heights, cruising the galactic expanse, boldly to go where few venture any more.