Scorpius
Constellation · The Scorpion
Scorpius really looks like a scorpion, with a curling tail and a bright red heart: the supergiant star Antares. It lies along the rich, star-packed band of the Milky Way.
- AntaresBrightest star
- A curving tailShape
- June – AugustBest seen
Take a closer look
A heart with a partner
Red Antares has a hidden companion: a smaller, hotter blue-white star orbiting it. It is hard to see because Antares outshines it, but a good telescope on a steady night can show it. Antares itself is so massive that it will probably end its life as a supernova.
An ancient star city
Just beside Antares sits M4, a globular cluster – a tight ball of tens of thousands of stars. It is one of the closest clusters of its kind to Earth, and its stars are more than 10 billion years old. In binoculars it looks like a soft, round glow.
The X-ray surprise
In 1962 a rocket carrying X-ray detectors found Scorpius X-1, the first X-ray source discovered beyond the Solar System. It is a neutron star pulling gas from a partner star. Apart from the Sun, it is the brightest steady X-ray source in our sky.
How we found out
- Ancient Greece
The scorpion that defeated Orion. The two were placed on opposite sides of the sky, so when Scorpius rises, Orion sets.
- Polynesia
The curving stars are seen as the magic fishhook of the hero Māui, used to pull islands up from the sea.
- Name
Antares means “rival of Mars” – both are red and often appear near each other.
Why can you never see Orion and Scorpius in the sky at the same time?
They are on almost opposite sides of the sky. One rises as the other sets – just like in the myth!
See it yourself
Look low in the south on summer evenings (Northern Hemisphere) or high overhead in winter (Southern Hemisphere). Find the red star Antares.
From the encyclopedia
Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗Got it?
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