Scorpius is among the many most distinctive of constellations within the zodiac. With slightly creativeness, you may see its stars tracing the form of a scorpion. The good crimson star Antares lies on the Scorpion’s Coronary heart. The constellation has the form of the letter J, with the curved backside of the J representing the Scorpion’s curved Tail. There’s even a Stinger, consisting of two stars – Shaula and Lesath – noticeable for his or her nearness to one another.
In a darkish sky, you may also see many stunning deep sky treasures – and the starry band of our house galaxy, the Milky Way – in the identical a part of the sky as Scorpius.
discover Scorpius
For night viewing, July and August are prime-time months for observing this wondrous constellation. Within the Northern Hemisphere, we affiliate the ruby star Antares – or Ant-Ares, the “rival” of Mars – with the new summer season season. And also you might need your personal associations with this star at this season. I personally affiliate Antares with the blooming of untamed cardinal flowers on my favourite mountaineering path.
Because the summer season season wanes for us on this hemisphere, Antares’ fading into the southwestern nightfall indicators the cooler days of autumn.
In early July, in both the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, Scorpius climbs to its highest level within the sky at about 10 p.m. your native time (11 p.m. native daylight time). As a result of the celebs return to the identical place within the sky about 1/2 hour earlier with every passing week, search for the celestial Scorpion to be at its highest, in mid-July, round 9 p.m. your native time (10 p.m. native daylight time), and by late July round 8 p.m. your native time (9 p.m. native daylight time).
As seen from mid-northern latitudes, such because the central U.S., Scorpius’ arc is low throughout the southern sky. However Scorpius’ brilliant crimson star Antares might be seen as far north as southern Alaska.
The Scorpion in mythology
In Greek mythology, it’s mentioned that useless Orion the Hunter grew boastful about his searching abilities. He claimed there was no animal on Earth he couldn’t kill. When Orion started bragging he would kill each animal, the Earth goddess Gaia despatched Scorpius the Scorpion to sting and kill Orion. And thus Scorpius and Orion turned mortal enemies. It’s mentioned that the king of the gods, Zeus, positioned Orion and the Scorpion within the heavens in such a method that the 2 enemies would by no means meet.
That’s why – in line with legend – you may by no means see these two constellations in the identical sky collectively. Orion solely rises after Scorpius has set. And the reverse can also be true: Scorpius doesn’t rise till Orion’s departure. And thus when the Scorpion is at its peak in visibility within the night sky – excessive within the sky on late July or early August evenings – Orion is simply returning to the east earlier than dawn.
Read more: Orion the Hunter returns before dawn
Extra sky lore
Folks at southerly latitudes have totally different legends concerning Scorpius, which seems greater within the sky there. In line with the Hawaiian Astronomical Society:
In Hawaii, we all know Scorpius because the demigod Maui’s Fishhook. One day Maui went fishing along with his brothers of their outrigger canoe. He introduced with him a magic fishhook, instructing his brothers that no matter he caught with it, they had been to proceed paddling and by no means look again. Maui caught an enormous object and requested his brothers to paddle more durable whereas he pulled the road. As Maui hauled, many rocks appeared. The extra he pulled, the extra rocks appeared.
Lastly, he pulled exhausting sufficient that the big chunks of land surfaced from the ocean. His brothers, drained from all of the rowing, and inquisitive about Maui’s catch, regarded again. One of many brothers referred to as out, ‘Look, Maui is pulling up land!’ Livid, Maui responded, ‘Fools! Had you not regarded again, these islands would have been an important land.’ We now know these islands as Hawaii. New Zealanders inform an identical story about Maui and their land.
In the present day, Maui’s fish hook is popularly often called a magical merchandise that seems within the Disney movie Moana.
Solar’s passage in entrance of Scorpius
Given Scorpius’ nice prominence within the sky, it’s ironic that the sun spends much less time in entrance of the Scorpion than some other constellation of the zodiac. Annually, the sun shines within the constellation Scorpius for per week, from about November 22 by November 29. If these dates appear to be in battle with what you learn on a horoscope web page, keep in mind that astrologers are referring to the signal Scorpio, not the constellation Scorpius.
Astrologically talking, when the sun reaches some extent on the ecliptic – the sun’s yearly pathway in entrance of the celebs – that’s 30 levels to 60 levels east of the September equinox level, then the sun is claimed to be within the signal Scorpio. That’s regardless of which constellation or constellations lie behind the sun within the sky presently. The sun passes by the signal Scorpio (not the constellation Scorpius) from about October 23 to November 21. However, within the sky, the sun is in entrance of the constellations Virgo after which Libra throughout this similar time interval.
The astrological indicators stay mounted relative to the solstice and equinox factors. However, within the sky, these seasonal markers slowly shift westward relative to the constellations, or backdrop stars. Some 5,000 years in the past, as an illustration, the star Antares marked the Northern Hemisphere’s autumnal equinox level. In our day, Antares and the sun have their annual conjunction on or close to December 1. That’s about three weeks earlier than the December 21 solstice. Antares will mark the December solstice level some 1,500 years from now.
Who decides constellation boundaries
The Worldwide Astronomical Union (IAU) – a world physique {of professional} astronomers – took it upon itself to outline boundaries of the 88 official constellations in 1930. And so the sun has been destined to spend solely per week in entrance of Scorpius yearly ever since.
Because the boundaries are presently outlined, the sun spends shut to 3 weeks in entrance of the constellation Ophiuchus (November 29-December 18). Ophiuchus is the constellation instantly to the north of Scorpius. Observe on the sky chart above that the IAU selected to attract many of the Ophiuchus-Scorpius border to the south of the ecliptic. Had the IAU chosen to attract the border to the north of the ecliptic, then the sun’s period inside Scorpius could be nearer to at least one month.
Scorpius and the zodiac
Early astronomers used key stars and easy-to-recognize star patterns (constellations) to trace the motions of the sun, moon and planets upon the zodiac. That being the case, early astronomers had been little doubt extra inclined to make use of the “mounted” stars of Scorpius than of Ophiuchus for referencing the whereabouts of the wandering planets. In any case, the ancients watched the crimson planet Mars pair up with the ruddy star Antares in recurring cycles. And so the Greeks noticed Antares – Ant-Ares – as Mars’ rival.
Furthermore, the moon routinely occults – passes in entrance of – Antares at sure phases within the moon’s 18.6-year cycle. The following collection of Antares occultations will start August 25, 2023. (For additional data, verify EarthSky’s visible planets and night sky guide.)
Backside line: Scorpius the Scorpion traces a J-shaped sample of stars, making it straightforward to determine. Additionally it is house to the good crimson star Antares.
The constellations of the Zodiac
Taurus
Gemini
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
Libra
Scorpius
Sagittarius
Capricornus
Aquarius
Pisces
Aries
Ophiuchus, the 13th zodiac constellation
