Scorpius, the Scorpion, is a zodiac constellation of the northern summer sky, its curved tail ending in a sting and its heart the red supergiant Antares.
At a glance
| stars in the figure | 18 |
|---|---|
| nearest star of the figure | Larawag, 63.7 light-years (19.5 pc) |
| farthest star of the figure | Iota¹ Scorpii, 1,930 light-years (592 pc) |
| depth | the farthest is 30 × farther than the nearest |
| zodiac | ♏ the ecliptic runs through it |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Scorpius
In Greek myth the scorpion was sent to kill Orion, and the two were set on opposite sides of the sky, so that one sets as the other rises. Antares, the scorpion’s heart, is a red supergiant whose name means the rival of Mars, for its colour. The tail curls down to Shaula and Lesath, the sting. The ecliptic crosses the figure, so the Moon and planets pass through it.
Many of its bright blue stars, Acrab, Dschubba and their neighbours, belong to the nearest family of young, massive stars to the Sun. Near the tail lie two open clusters visible to the naked eye, the Butterfly Cluster and Ptolemy’s Cluster. Scorpius rides high on winter nights in the southern hemisphere; from the north it stays low on summer evenings.
What you see in the piece
Flown out to, the scorpion loses its shape: Larawag is a near neighbour, while stars such as Iota¹ Scorpii lie far behind, and Antares, red from Earth, turns out to have a small blue companion.
Questions
Is Scorpius a zodiac sign?
Yes. The ecliptic, the Sun’s yearly path, runs through Scorpius, so it is one of the zodiac constellations, and the Moon and planets pass through it.
How far away are the stars of Scorpius?
They range from Larawag, 63.7 light-years (19.5 pc), to Iota¹ Scorpii, 1,930 light-years (592 pc): the farthest is 30 × farther than the nearest.