Scorpius (original) (raw)
Scorpius. © 2003 Torsten Bronger.
Scorpius (abbreviation: Sco), the Scorpion, isa prominent constellation of the southern hemisphere and the eighth of the zodiac. Scorpius is one of the few constellations to actually look like what it represents. It lies south of Ophiuchus and west of the northern part of Centaurus. It also lies on the ecliptic between Libra and Sagittarius. The Milky Way passes through this region, and it contains several open clusters and globular clusters. Its brightest star is the first magnitude Antares (Alpha Scorpii). See below for details of the constellation's other brightest stars and interesting deep sky objects.
| Stars brighter than magnitude 4.0 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| star | vis mag | abs mag | spec type | dist (ly) | RA (h m s) | Dec (° ' ") |
| Alpha (Antares) | 1.06v | -5.28 | M1.5Iab+B4V | 604 | 16 29 24 | -26 25 55 |
| Lambda (Shaula) | 1.62 | -5.05 | B2IV+B | 703 | 17 33 36 | -37 06 14 |
| Theta (Sargas) | 1.86 | -2.75 | F1II | 272 | 17 37 19 | -42 59 52 |
| Epsilon (Wei) | 2.29 | 0.78 | K2.5III | 65 | 16 50 10 | -34 17 36 |
| Delta (Dschubba) | 2.29 | -3.16 | B0.3IV | 402 | 16 00 20 | -22 37 18 |
| Kappa (Girtab) | 2.39 | -3.38 | B1.5III | 464 | 17 42 29 | -39 01 48 |
| Beta (Graffias) | 2.56 | -3.50 | B1V+B2V | 530 | 16 05 26 | -19 48 19 |
| Upsilon (Lesath) | 2.70 | -3.31 | B2IV | 519 | 17 30 46 | -37 17 45 |
| Tau | 2.82 | -2.78 | B0V | 430 | 16 35 53 | -28 12 58 |
| Sigma (Alniyat) | 2.90v | -3.87 | B2III+O9.5V | 735 | 16 21 11 | -25 35 34 |
| Pi | 2.89 | -2.86 | B1V+B2V | 459 | 15 58 51 | -26 06 50 |
| Iota-1 | 2.99 | -5.71 | F3Iae | 1,790 | 17 47 35 | -40 07 37 |
| Mu-1 | 3.00 | -4.01 | B1.5V+B6.5V | 822 | 16 51 52 | -38 02 51 |
| Eta | 3.32 | 1.61 | F3Vp | 72 | 17 12 09 | -43 14 21 |
| Mu-2 | 3.56 | -2.44 | B2IV | 517 | 16 52 20 | -38 01 03 |
| Zeta-2 | 3.62 | 0.30 | K4III | 151 | 16 54 35 | -42 21 41 |
| Rho | 3.87 | -1.63 | B2IV | 409 | 15 56 53 | -29 12 50 |
| Omega-1 (Jabhat al Akrab) | 3.93 | -1.64 | B1V | 424 | 16 06 48 | -20 40 09 |
| Other objects of interest | ||
|---|---|---|
| name | type of object | notes |
| Butterfly Cluster | open cluster | M6. See separate entry |
| M7 (NGC 6475) | open cluster | One of the finest open clusters in the northern hemisphere, best seen with binoculars. It encompasses many bright stars loosely concentrated at the center. Telescopes show, at the western edge, but still within the cluster's boundaries, the faint globular cluster NGC 6453. Magnitude 3.3; diameter 80'; RA 17h 53.9m, Dec -22° 59' |
| NGC 6231 | open cluster | Over 100 stars in a compact 15' area; this cluster lies on another spiral arm of our galaxy, closer to the galactic center |
| M4 (NGC 6121) | globular cluster | A large, loosely concentrated cluster, 1.5° W of Antares. Some of its brightest members appear to form a bar through the center. Magnitude 5.9; diameter 26.3'; RA 16h 23.6m, Dec -26° 32' |
| M80 (NGC 6093) | globular cluster | A small, tightly concentrated object, difficult to resolve into stars, and then only around the edges; a fuzzy ball seen in binoculars. Magnitude 7.2; diameter 8.9'; RA 16h 17.0m, Dec -22° 59' |
| Scorpius X-1 | X-ray binary | See separate entry |
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