Posts Tagged ‘Scorpius’
Sky Tonight—Feb 24, Moon by Scorpion’s Heart
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Friday morning – an hour or two before sunrise – the moon will shine quite close to the heart star of the constellation Scorpius. Find the rather fat waning crescent moon in the south to southeastern sky. Then look for the nearby reddish star. If you can’t see the sanguine color of the Scorpion’s heart with the eye, try binoculars. That is Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius. This ruddy gem ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—Feb 23, Moon by Scorpion’s Crown
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Before dawn tomorrow – on Thursday, February 24 – the moon will be near the upper part of the constellation Scorpius. These three stars are sometimes called the Crown of the Scorpion. Scorpius – which now rises in the south-southeastern sky an hour or two after midnight – is the constellation of the Scorpion. Individually, the Crown stars are Graffias, Dschubba, and Pi Scorpii. It is rare when star ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 30, Sun in Ophiuchus until
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org If you could see the stars during the daytime, you would see the sun shining in front of the constellation Ophiuchus today. At about this time each year, the sun passes out of Scorpius to enter Ophiuchus. Like Scorpius, Ophiuchus is a constellation of the Zodiac, and every year the sun passes in front of Ophiuchus from about November 30 until December 17. The ecliptic – which translates on our sky’s dome as ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—September 14, Moon in forgotten
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org This evening, the moon shines above the constellation Scorpius and in front of Ophiuchus – the “overlooked” constellation of the Zodiac. Once upon a time, the border between Scorpius and Ophiuchus was not a particularly well-defined section of sky, until the International Astronomers Union officially drew in the constellation borders in the 1930’s. Although you will not see Ophiuchus on the horoscope page in the ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—September 13, Waxing moon near
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Here is a familiar figure – to stargazers – and to Texans like me. Just yesterday, my little neighbor – age 5 – told me she saw a scorpion. To those of us who watch the skies, the chance to see a celestial Scorpion is present mostly in the summer months. Here it is – Scorpius the Scorpion – only visible at nightfall and very early evening now that summer has faded away. Bright star in east? Might be planet Jupiter, ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—August 18, Moon shines above
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Every month, the moon swings full circle in front of the constellations of the Zodiac. And each month, as the moon parades past the constellation Scorpius, the moon makes sure to stay a safe distance above the Scorpion’s stinger stars, Shaula and Lesath. After all, the lore of the skies tells us the Scorpion’s stinger put Orion the Mighty Hunter to death. As seen from mid-northern latitudes in North America, the stinger ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—August 17, Antares – Fire Star
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org You have got about another month to see a uniquely summer star, Antares in the constellation Scorpius, in the evening. It is the brightest star near the waxing gibbous moon tonight, in the southern sky as night begins. The moon and Antares will drift westward throughout the night, to set around midnight. Antares sets some 4 minutes earlier with each passing night. By late September, Antares will be tough to spot in the ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—August 2, Find a globular cluster
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org At nightfall, look in your southern sky for the bright ruddy star that is called the Scorpion’s Heart – Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius. Antares is always up on summer evenings. It is a bright red star known for twinkling rapidly. If you have binoculars, sweep for an object near Antares on the sky’s dome. This object is called M4, and it’s a globular star cluster located just one degree to the ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight-June 23: Waxing gibbous moon passes
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Tonight the moon returns to the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. The brightest star in the immediate vicinity is Antares, whose name means “like Mars,” because of its similar reddish hue. If you remember your Greek mythology, or perhaps episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess, Ares is the god of war, the counterpart to the Roman god Mars. You can perform the color comparison yourself, because the planet Mars lies in the ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—April 29, Moon and Scorpion rise as
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Like clockwork, the constellations rise and set 4 minutes earlier with each passing day. Four minutes doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up after a while. For instance, the stars rise and set one-half hour earlier with each passing week, or 2 hours earlier with each passing month. That is 6 hours difference after one 3-month season. In late April, the red supergiant star Antares rises in the southeast around 11:00 p.m. local ... Full Story