Scorpius

Abbreviation:  Sco
English Name:  The Scorpion
Genitive: Antares
Hemisphere:  Southern Hemisphere (Parts visible from the UK.)
Location: Between the constellations of Sagittarius and Lupus.
Visible between latitudes:  +90 and -40 degrees
Best season: Summer
Seen in three seasons: Spring, Summer and Autumn
Best seen in:  July
Seen between: June and August.
Right Ascension (RA):  17 hour
Declination (DEC):  -40 degrees
Area (square degrees):  497 (33rd)

Scorpius  (The Scorpion)

• This large constellation located in the Southern Hemisphere.
• It lies in rich region of the Milky-Way, and like Sagittarius (The Archer), contains numerous objects of interest, in the same direction to the center of our Galaxy.
• Our Sun passes through it briefly from 23 November to 29 November every year.

Messier Objects

• M4  –  Globular Cluster; large and fairly loose – visible even with the naked-eye and a fuzzy in binoculars.
• M6   –  Open Cluster; known as The Butterfly Cluster, can be resolved into individual stars in binoculars.
• M7   –  Open Cluster; known as Ptolemy’s Cluster, best seen with low-magnification binoculars.
• M80  –  Globular Cluster;  small/compact, readily seen in binoculars but just resolved with 6-inch telescopes.

Features of Interest

• NGC 6153  –  Planetary Nebula; (pale blue / magnitude: +10.9) easily observed with 3-inch telescopes.
• NGC 6231  –  Open Cluster; extremely large and bright – more spectacular than the Double Cluster in Perseus (The Perseus), and contains many very hot stars with a whole range types of stars; Blue-white, yellow and orange stars are visible.
• NGC 6302  –  Planetary Nebula; known as The Bug Nebula, noticeably elongated including a bright center. (Magnitude: +9.6)
• NGC 6388  –  Globular Cluster; readily visible in 3-inch telescopes but can’t be resolved easily because of small object.

Named Stars

• Antares (Alpha Sco)
• Graffias (Beta 1 Sco)
• Dschubba (Delta Sco)
• Sargas (Theta Sco)
• Shaula (Lambda Sco)
• Jabbah (Nu Sco)
• Grafias (Xi Sco)
• Alniyat (Sigma Sco)
• Alniyat (Tau Sco)
• Lesath (Upsilon Sco)

Others

• Photo of the constellation; Scorpius, as it appears to the naked eye. (Lines have been added for clarity.)
• Sky Chart  –  Scorpius
• List of stars in Scorpius.

 

Back to The 88 Constellations Lists  page.