Summer skies and Scorpius
This week, let’s turn our attention to the southern horizon and explore the summer constellation Scorpius. Located in the direction of center of the Milky Way galaxy, this part of the sky is rich with star clusters and nebulae. I love to spend a lazy evening scanning around this area with binoculars.
Get out and face south and look for a lopsided ‘T’ pattern of stars. This area forms the top of the body, the head and the claws of the scorpion.
The red supergiant star, Antares, stands out conspicuously compared to the other stars along the line of the scorpion’s body. Located about 600 light years from Earth, Antares has a diameter about 700 times larger than our Sun. If it were placed at the center of our solar system, its envelope would extend out to a point between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter!
The origin of the name Antares lies in the mythology of ancient Greece. Its bright red color resembles the planet Mars. The Greek name for the god of war is Ares. When the Greek prefix ‘ant’ is added to Ares, we get ant-Ares or the rival of Mars. So, think of Antares as the star that competes with Mars for our attention.
Here is a bit of star lore to explain why Scorpius and Orion are never seen in the sky at the same time. One rises after the other one sets. Orion had an affair with Apollo’s twin sister Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Because Apollo was a jealous brother he sent the scorpion to kill Orion. Zeus placed Orion and the scorpion on opposites sides of the sky to be sure they never tangled again.
As Scorpius continues to rise, you will be able to make out the long fish hook shaped tail which ends with the ‘stinger stars’ Lesath and Shuala. Another name for these two stars is ‘the cat’s eyes’. Maori star lore refers to the tail of the scorpion as Maui’s fish hook.
Long ago, a group of brothers set out fish in their dugout canoe. The youngest, Maui, sneaked aboard and remained hidden until they were off the beach. Once discovered by his brothers, a decision was made to take him back to land. But, Maui used his magic powers to make the shoreline appear more distant than it really was. So, they gave up, turned around and kept rowing out to sea. Once they got out to deeper water, Maui dropped his magic fish hook over the side.
A little while later he felt a strong pull on the line. The hook had snagged something big, much larger than any fish. So, he called his brothers over to help bring in the line. What broke the surface was a large fish-shaped island called Te Ika a Maui (the fish of Maui). A place we know today as the North Island of New Zealand.
