Scutum, the Shield, is a small constellation over one of the brightest patches of the Milky Way, the Scutum Star Cloud, and home to the Wild Duck Cluster.
At a glance
| stars in the figure | 4 |
|---|---|
| nearest star of the figure | Alpha Scuti, 199 light-years (61.1 pc) |
| farthest star of the figure | Beta Scuti, 916 light-years (281 pc) |
| depth | the farthest is 4.6 × farther than the nearest |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Scutum
Scutum was introduced by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius as the Shield of Sobieski, in honour of King John III Sobieski of Poland. Its stars are faint, but it lies in the summer Milky Way between Aquila, Serpens and Sagittarius.
Behind its faint stars glows the Scutum Star Cloud, a dense, bright stretch of the Milky Way where gaps in the dust let us see deep into the inner Galaxy. The Wild Duck Cluster, M11, is a rich, compact open cluster here. Delta Scuti gives its name to a whole class of pulsating stars, and UY Scuti, a red supergiant, is among the largest stars known.
Scutum lies just south of the celestial equator, visible from both hemispheres. It is best seen on summer evenings in the northern hemisphere, the southern winter.
What you see in the piece
Leave the HUMAN EYE view (E) with CONSTELLATIONS (N) on and the shield breaks into stars at different depths, its nearest several times closer than its farthest, all of them close compared with the star cloud behind.
Questions
What can you see in Scutum?
Scutum holds the Scutum Star Cloud, one of the brightest parts of the Milky Way, and the Wild Duck Cluster, M11, a rich open cluster visible in binoculars.
How far away are the stars of Scutum?
The nearest star of the figure is Alpha Scuti, 199 light-years (61.1 pc); the farthest is Beta Scuti, 916 light-years (281 pc). The farthest is 4.6 × farther than the nearest.