The only thing that can chill the intense heat of the summer day is the cool sky of the summer night.

August’s night sky brings the mighty Centaur, the half-horse and half-man archer. His name is Sagittarius, of both astronomical and astrological fame. Look for him in the southern sky around 9 p.m. — he’s sure to keep the appointment. (He’s nothing if not dependable, as I’ll soon explain.) The easiest way to find him is to find the “teapot,” a collection of nine of the constellation’s brightest stars that resemble a tea kettle. They are located in the archer’s chest.

While you are looking at Sagittarius, you will find that you can actually look right through him, and see the Milky Way. The Milky Way is the dense band of stars and star clusters, forming our galaxy, seen edge-on (as if you are looking at a side view of a disk). The center of our Milky Way galaxy is more than 26,000 light years away.

As it happens, here on our Island we are lucky to be able to see this dense panorama of stars at all, because there is so little light pollution to wash it out. Bless the dark Vineyard sky. On a good night, you could peer into the darkness and find more than a dozen so-called deep-sky, or Messier, objects.

But, why look beyond a legend?

Sagittarius is a horseman (well, I guess horse-man) with a past. In his former life (before his time in the heavens), he was known as Chiron the Centaur. Chiron was a creature with questionable lineage.

In one story of his origins, Cronus, the married father of Zeus, was secretly courting a mortal woman, Philyra. Cronus was disguised as a stallion to avoid the wrath of his wife, Rhea. His philandering with Philyra produced a centaur, a half-horse and half-man animal named Chiron. Another version of the story claims that Chiron is the offspring of an illicit relationship between Hera (wife of Zeus) and a centaur. Either way, it seems that monogamy did not run in that family line.

But fine and admirable qualities did run in Chiron’s blood. Though most centaurs were considered rude, untrustworthy and violent, the one that would eventually became known as Sagittarius was always quite different.

Chiron was of a gentler ilk than his fellow centaurs. He was both kind and learned, and was not only a hunter, musician and physician but also was a teacher to three of mythology’s most famous heroes: Jason, Achilles and Hercules. A friend to all, Chiron was unluckily nicked by a poison arrow that was meant for someone else. The wound caused intense pain for this immortal being. He begged Zeus to take away his immortality so the suffering would end. Zeus could not bear to see this tender creature in so much pain, so he made him mortal and allowed his body to die to put him out of his miserable existence. To honor Chiron, Zeus put him in the sky as the constellation Sagittarius.

And, as Sagittarius, the hunter still stands eternally at the ready.

The great archer is taking aim but will never shoot. His weapon will remain raised forever and his arrow eternally pointed at Antares (the star at the very heart of the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion). But the arrow will never fly.

Stories of conflict continue even in the heavens above. If Sagittarius could release his bow, he would do so to avenge his friend Orion’s death. Orion was slain by the scorpion’s sting. Ever loyal, Chiron (Sagittarius) is forever frozen in midaction, settling this celestial score. A fitting tribute for a legendary character whom the ancients thought of as free from tragic flaws, but not from a tragic fate.

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown.