SAGITTA
, in Astronomy, the Arrow or Dart, a conftellation of the northern hemisphere near the eagle, and one of the 48 old asterisms. The Greeks say that this constellation owes its origin to one of the arrows of Hercules, with which he killed the eagle or vulture that gnawed the liver of Prometheus.
The stars in this constellation, in the catalogues of Ptolomy, Tycho, and Hevelius, are only 5, but in Flamsteed's they are extended to 18.
Sagitta, in Geometry, is a term used by some writers for the absciss of a curve.
Sagitta, in Trigonometry &c, is the same as the versed sine of an arch; being so called because it is like a dart or arrow, standing on the chord of the arch.
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