Scorpius

, Unicode ♏) is one of the constellations of the zodiac. In western astrology it is known as "Scorpio". It lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. It is a large constellation located in the southern hemisphere near the center of the Milky Way.

Notable features

Scorpius contains many bright stars, including Antares (α Sco), β¹ Sco (Graffias), δ Sco (Dschubba), θ Sco (Sargas), λ Sco (Shaula), ν Sco (Jabbah), ξ Sco (Grafias), σ Sco (Alniyat), τ Sco (also known as Alniyat) and υ Sco (Lesath).

The star once designated γ Sco (despite being well within the boundaries of Libra) is today known as σ Lib.

λ Sco and υ Sco, two stars at the end of the scorpion's tail that appear very close together, are sometimes referred to as the Cat's Eyes.

Notable deep sky objects

Due to its location on the Milky Way, this constellation contains many deep sky objects such as the open clusters M6 (the Butterfly Cluster) and M7 (the Ptolemy Cluster), and the globular clusters M4 and M80.

Mythology

Scorpio resembles, quite noticeably, a scorpion's tail, and a vague body ^*. According to Greek mythology, it corresponds to the scorpion which was sent by Gaia (or possibly the goddess Hera) to kill the hunter Orion, the scorpion rising out of the ground at the goddess' command to attack. Although the scorpion and Orion appear together in this myth, the constellation of Orion is almost opposite to Scorpius in the night sky. It has been suggested that this was a divine precaution to forestall the heavenly continuation of the feud.

In many versions, however, Apollo sent the scorpion after Orion, having grown jealous of Artemis' attentions to the man. Later, to apologize for killing her friend, Apollo then helped Artemis hang Orion's image in the night sky. However, the scorpion was also placed up there, and every time it appears on the horizon, Orion starts to sink into the other side of the sky, still running from the attacker.

Scorpius also appears in one version of the story of Phaethon, the mortal son of Helios, the sun. Phaeton asked to drive the sun-chariot for a day. Phaeton lost control of the chariot. The horses, already out of control, were scared by the great celestial scorpion with its sting raised to strike, and the inexperienced boy lost control of the chariot, as the sun wildly went about the sky (this is said to have formed the constellation Eridanus). Finally, Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt to stop the rampage.

The Chinese included these stars in the Azure Dragon, a powerful but benevolent creature whose rising heralded spring.

In Maori mythology, this constellation can be Maui's magic jawbone (used to fish up the North Island of New Zealand), the front of Tama-rereti's waka/canoe (used to ferry the stars into the sky) or one of the posts Tane used to hold Ranginui (the sky-father) in the sky. While three posts (Sirius, Matariki/The pleides and Orion) hold up the top half of Ranginui, only a single post (Scorpius) supports the lower half of his body. It therefore appears bent under the weight.

Astrology

''Main article: Scorpio (astrology)

The Western astrological sign Scorpio of the tropical zodiac (October 24 - November 22) differs from the astronomical constellation and the Hindu astrological sign of the sidereal zodiac (November 23 - November 29).

Notable and named stars

< ανταρης ^* against Ares/Mars
< cor scorpii The heart of the scorpion
< قلب العقرب Qalb^* al-'Aqrab The heart of the scorpion
< vespertīlio The bat

< الشولاء aš-šawlā´ The raised ^*

< Babylonian or Assyrian via archaeologists.

< الجبهة al-jabha^* The forehead
< Iklil al-'Aqrab The crown of the scorpion

name Graffias/Grafias/Grassias was formerly applied to ξ Scorpii
< العقرب al-^{c^aqrab} The scorpion

< اللسعة al-las^{c^{a [The sting}}

< النياط an-niyāţ The arteries

< النياط an-niyāţ The arteries
Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum type variable star

Beta Lyrae type eclipsing binary

< جبهة العقرب jabhatal-^{c^aqrab} [The forehead of the scorpion

< جبهة jabhah forehead
five star system

formerly called Graffias/Grafias/Grassias. This is now applied to β Scorpii
six star system

< جبهة العقرب jabhatal-^{c^aqrab} [The forehead of the scorpion

has a planet

solar twin

X-ray binary

pulsar/white dwarf binary in M4
has a planet

now designated σ Librae

BD	F	Names and other designations	Mag.	Ly away
α	21	Antares, Alpha Scorpii, Cor Scorpii, Qalb al-Aqrab, Vespertilo	1.06	604
λ	35	Lambda Scorpii, Shaula	1.62	703
θ		Theta Scorpii, Sargas	1.86	272
δ	7	Delta Scorpii, Dschubba, Al Jabba, Iclarkrau	2.29	402	ε	26	Epsilon Scorpii, Wei	2.29	65.4
κ		Kappa Scorpii, Girtab	2.39	464
β^1,2	8	Beta Scorpii, Acrab, Elacrab, Graffias, Grafias, Grassias	2.56	530
υ	34	Upsilon Scorpii, Lesath, Lesuth	2.70	519
τ	23	Tau Scorpii, Alniyat, Al Niyat	2.82	430
π	6	Pi Scorpii	2.89	459
σ	20	Sigma Scorpii, Alniyat, Al Niyat	2.90	735
ι¹		Iota-1 Scorpii	2.99	1800
μ¹		Mu1 Scorpii	3.00	822
G		G Scorpii	3.19	127
η		Eta Scorpii	3.32	71.6
μ²		Mu2 Scorpii	3.56	517
ρ	5	Rho Scorpii	3.87	409
ω¹	9	Omega-1 Scorpii, Jabhat al Akrab	3.93	424
ν	14	Nu Scorpii, Jabbah, Jabah, Lesath	4.00	437
ξ		Xi Scorpii	4.16	92.5
H		H Scorpii	4.18
N		N Scorpii	4.24
Q		Q Scorpii	4.26
ω²	10	Omega-2 Scorpii, Jabhat al Akrab	4.31	265
ο	19	Omicron Scorpii	4.55	1200
c²	13	13 Scorpii	4.58
A	2	2 Scorpii	4.59	433
b	1	1 Scorpii	4.63	521
i	22	22 Scorpii	4.70
ι²		Iota-2 Scorpii	4.78	3700
d		d Scorpii	4.80
k		k Scorpii	4.83
	24	24 Scorpii	4.91
ψ	15	Psi Scorpii	4.93	165
χ	17	Chi Scorpii	5.24	439
		HD 147513	5.38	41.96
	16	16 Scorpii	5.43
	27	27 Scorpii	5.48
	18	18 Scorpii	5.49	45.7
	4	4 Scorpii	5.63
c¹	12	12 Scorpii	5.67
	11	11 Scorpii	5.75
	3	3 Scorpii	5.87	455
	25	25 Scorpii	6.72
		Scorpius X-1	12.2	9000
		PSR B1620-26		5600
γ		Gamma Scorpii

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Scorpius

Notable features

Notable deep sky objects

Mythology

Astrology

Notable and named stars

See also

External links