Scorpius Constellation

Constellation Paper
Ashlee Simmons
9/27/2014

(constellationprojecttemplate)

Ashlee Simmons

Constellation Paper

Scorpius derived from Greek Mythology. The story was such that Orion
boasted to Artemis and her mother Leto , that Orion would kill every living animal on the Earth.
Orions pride was way too great. So Artemis and her mother sent a scorpion to kill Orion. In the
battle the scorpion did just that. This battle caught the attention of the God Zeus. Zeus raised the
Scorpion to the heavens and Artemis requested that Zeus do the same for Orion so that every
time mortals looked to the sky they would see the two and be reminded to not let their pride get
to the best of them. It is said that every winter Orion hunts the sky but once summer comes he
flees because the constellation of the scorpion comes (Wikipedia).

Another story of the Scorpius is that Phaeton had gone to his father who swore to his son
Phaeton that he would give him anything his heart desired. He swore this to Phaeton in front of
the river Styx. So Phaeton decided that he wanted to drive his fathers sun chariot for a day.
When Phaeton rode the sun chariot he lost control of the white horses that were guiding the
chariot. As such the Earth became cold and Phaeton was approached by the celestial scorpion.
The scorpion drew his stinger and Phaeton dipped down to avoid but because he dipped too low
he burned most of the vegetation and turned Africa into a desert and darkened the skin of the

Ethiopian nation until it was black. Zeus had to put a stop to this so the only way he could was to
strike Phaeton and the chariot with a lightning bolt which plunged Phaeton into the River
Eridanos (Wikipedia).

The Scorpius is the 33rd constellation in size and it occupies 497 square degrees. This
constellation lies in the third quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere and it can be seen at latitudes
between +40 and -90. The constellations that border Scorpius are Ara, Corona Australis,
Libra, Lupus, Norma, Ophiuchus and Sagittarius (Constellation Guide).

The best time to view this constellation is the months of July and August in the evenings.
In early July this constellation is at its highest point in the sky at about exactly 10 pm. In the mid
northern latitudes the scorpion never climbs higher than the horizon. From November 22 to
November 29 the Sun shines in the constellation Scorpius( Constellation Guide).

The brightest star in the Scorpius constellation is named Antares. This star is a red
supergiant star with a visual magnitude of 0.96, approximately 550 light years distant from the
Sun. Not only is this star the brightest in the Scorpius constellation but it is also the 16th brightest
star in the night sky. The star belongs to the spectral class M1.5lab-b and has the radius about
883 times solar. Antares is at the heart of the scorpius constellation (Constellation Guide).

The second star is Shaula which is the second brightest star in the Scorpius constellation.
It is approximately 700 light years distant from the Solar System. This is a multiple star system
containing three visible components: Lambda Scorpii A, Lambda Scorpii B, and Lambda Scorpii
C (Constellation Guide).

These stars and the rest of the twenty have been listed in the chart below.

Na
me

Antare

sA

Sco

Sco

21

35

V
ar

H
D

HI
P

RA

Dec

vis
.
ma
g.

1484 8076 16h 29m 2 26 25 5

0.91
78
3
4.47s
5.0

1589 8592 17h 33m 3 37 06 1

1.62
26
7
6.53s
3.5

1595 8622 17h 37m 1 42 59 5

1.86
32
8
9.13s
2.2

ab
s.
ma
g.

Dist.
(ly)

Sp.
class

Notes

5.24 553

Cor Scorpii, Qalb

al-Aqrab,
Vespertilo;16th
brightest
M1.5Iab star; binary;semi
-b
regular
variable,Vmax =
0.75m, Vmin =
1.21m, P =
2180 d

5.05 703

Shaula;
Cep andAlgol
B2IV+DA
variable,Vmax =
7.9
1.59m, Vmin =
1.65m, P = 0.21 d

2.75 272

F1II

Sargas;
suspectedvariab
le,Vmax =
1.84m, Vmin =

Na
me

V
ar

H
D

HI
P

RA

Dec

vis
.
ma
g.

ab
s.
ma
g.

Dist.
(ly)

Sp.
class

Notes

1.88m

Sco

1432 7840 16h 00m 2 22 37 1

2.29
75
1
0.01s
7.8

Sco

Sco

26

K2IIIb

Wei; suspected
variable,Vmax =
2.24m, Vmin =
2.35m

B1.5III

Girtab; Cep
variable,Vmax =
2.41m, Vmin =
2.42m, P = 0.20 d

1516 8239 16 50 1 34 17 3
2.29
80
6
0.24s
3.4

1605 8667 17h 42m 2 39 01 4

2.39
78
0
9.28s
7.7

3.16 401

Dschubba, Al
Jabba,
Iclarkrau; Cas
B0.2IVe
variable,Vmax =
1.59m, Vmin =
2.32m

0.78

65

3.38 464

1 Sco

1442 7882 16h 05m 2 19 48 1

2.62
17
0
6.23s
9.4

3.44 530

B0.5V

Acrab, Elacrab,
Graffias, Grafias,
Grassias;
suspected
variable,Vmax =
2.61m, Vmin =
2.67m

Sco

34

1584 8569 17h 30m 4 37 17 4

2.70
08
6
5.84s
4.7

3.31 518

B2IV

Lesath, Lesuth

Na
me

Sco

23

Sco

Sco

1 Sco

20

V
ar

H
D

HI
P

RA

Dec

vis
.
ma
g.

1494 8126 16h 35m 5 28 12 5

2.82
38
6
2.96s
7.5

1430 7826 15h 58m 5 26 06 5

2.89
18
5
1.12s
0.6

ab
s.
ma
g.

Dist.
(ly)

2.78 430

2.85 459

Sp.
class

Notes

B0V

Alniyat, Al Niyat

B1V +
B2V

Vrischika,
Iclil; rotating
ellipsoidal
variable,Vmax =
2.88m, Vmin =
2.91m, P = 1.57 d

1471 8011 16h 21m 1 25 35 3

2.90
65
2
1.32s
3.9

3.86 734

B1III

Alniyat, Al Niyat;
Cep
variable,Vmax =
2.86m, Vmin =
2.94m, P = 0.25 d

1614 8707 17h 47m 3 40 07 3

2.99
71
3
5.08s
7.1

5.71 1791

F3Ia

Apollyon

1 Sco

1518 8251 16h 51m 5 38 02 5

3.00
90
4
2.24s
0.4

4.01 821

Denebakrab;
Lyr
B1.5IV +
variable,Vmax =
B
2.94m, Vmin =
3.22m, P = 1.45 d

G Sco

1618 8726 17h 49m 5 37 02 3

3.19
92
1
1.45s
6.1

0.24

Tel;
K0/K1III Basanismus,
Chuen Shwo

127

ab
s.
ma
g.

Dist.
(ly)

Sp.
class

1552 8414 17h 12m 0 43 14 1

3.32
03
3
9.18s
8.6

1.61

72

F3p

suspected
variable

1519 8254 16h 52m 2 38 01 0

3.56
85
5
0.15s
2.9

2.44 517

B2IV

Shngng
(),[1]

2 Sco

1523 8272 16h 54m 3 42 21 3

3.62
34
9
5.11s
8.7

0.30

K4III

suspected
variable,Vmax =
3.59m, Vmin =
3.65m

Sco

1426 7810 15h 56m 5 29 12 5

3.87
69
4
3.09s
0.4

1.62 409

B2IV/V

suspected
variable

1444 7893 16h 06m 4 20 40 0

3.93
70
3
8.43s
8.9

1.64 423

B1V

Jabhat al Akrab

14

1455 7937 16h 11m 5 19 27 3

4.00
02
4
9.74s
8.3

B2IV

Jabbah,
Jabah;quintuple
star

K5III

Nor;
suspected
variable,Vmax =
4.15m, Vmin =
4.18m

Na
me

Sco

2 Sco

1 Sco 1

Sco

H Sco

(Wikipedia).

V
ar

H
D

HI
P

RA

Dec

vis
.
ma
g.

1494 8130 16h 36m 2 35 15 1

4.18
47
4
2.46s
9.3

150

1.63 436

0.90 339

Notes

The Scorpius constellations have four messier objects. Messier 4 (M4, NGC 6121),
Messier 6 (M6, NGC 6405, Butterfly Cluster), Messier 7 (M7, NGC 6475, Ptolemy Cluster) and
Messier 80 (NGC 6093). Messier 4 has a magnitude of 5.9 and is approximately 7,200 light
years distant from the solar system (Constellationguide). The RA & DEC are as follows 13:42.2,
+28:23(Mysite).

Messier 6 also known as the Butterfly cluster because of the way that the stars are lined
in a shape that looks similar to a butterfly. This cluster was discovered by an astronomer by the
name of Giovanni Batista Hodierna. The Messier 6 has a visual magnitude of 4.2 and is
approximately 1,600 light years distant from the Sun (Constellationguide). The RA & DEC for
messier 6 are 17:40.1,-32:13 (Mysite). As with all open star clusters, M6 and M7 won't last
forever. Gravitational forces will slowly strip stars from each, and both will likely die within a
billion years. Our sun was probably born in a similar cluster that dissipated long ago
(Catchascorpionbythetail).

Messier 7 which is located in the Scorpions stinger is known as the Ptolemy Cluster. This
cluster has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.3 and can easily been seen with the naked eye. This

cluster contains about 80 stars and is approximately 980 light years distant from the solar system
(Constellationguide). The RA & DEC are as follows 17:53.9, -34:49 (Mysite).

The Last messier, messier 80 was discovered by a man named Charles Messier in 1781.
This messier has an apparent visual magnitude of 7.87 and is approximately 32,600 light years
distant from the Sun. This messier contains thousands of stars (Constealltionguide). The RA&
DEC are as follows 16:17.0, -22:59 (Mysite). This cluster is halfway between the stars and
Antares and Acrab. M80 is 95 light years in diameter.

An object of interest I thought was the Cats Paw Nebula. This Nebula is 5,500 light
years distant and is red in color because an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms. This nebula is
also known as the bear claws nebula. There have been stars nearly ten times the mass of our sun
that have been born there in the past few million years (RobertNeimroff).

This nebula was discovered by an astronomer named John Herschel in 1837. The Right
ascension is 17h 19m 58s[1] and the Declination 35 57 47[1]. Its distance is5500 +/-970
ly[2] ly (ibitimes).

When you use a telescope to look at this nebula it resembles that of a cats paw hence the
name. This nebula is undergoing an increased amount of star formation. Some call it a burst of
star formation. It appears to glow because of the younger stars. This contains 2000 young stars
that are surrounded by a proplanetary disk. This disk has a dense area of gas and dust and
thousands of other young stars (ibitimes).

It is still unclear why there is such a high formation of stars. However, NASA is
developing new tools to get digital images and more information as to why it is. Former
explanations have been ruled out (ibitimes).

(Wikkipedia)

Works Cited:

"Scorpius." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Aug. 2014. Web. 02 Sept. 2014.

"Scorpius Constellation." Constellation Guide. N.p., 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 02 Sept. 2014.
MCCLURE, Bruce. "Scorpius? Here's Your Constellation | EarthSky.org."EarthSky. N.p., 1 July 2014. Web. 02
Sept. 2014.
"List of Stars in Scorpius." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Aug. 2014. Web. 02 Sept. 2014.
Flanders, Tony. "Messiers by Number." Messiers by Number. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Sept. 2014.
T, R. "Catch a Scorpion by the Tail." Hot Science 35.6 (2014): 1. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Sept. 2014.
<http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.dbprox.slcc.edu/>.
Neimroff, Robert. "Astronomy Picture of the Day." APOD: 2014 June 18. NASA, 18 June 2014. Web. 08 Sept.
2014.
Poladian, Charles. "Young Stars Light Up The Cat's Paw Nebula [PHOTO]."International Business Times. N.p., 25
Sept. 2013. Web. 08 Sept. 2014.
G, Nick. "Constellation Project Template." Constellation Project Template. N.p., 2008. Web. 09 Sept. 2014.