Scutum

Abbreviation:  Sct
English Name:  The Shield
Genitive: Scuti
Hemisphere:  Southern Hemisphere
Location: Between the constellations of Sagittarius and Serpens.
Visible between latitudes:  +70 and -90 degrees
Best season: Summer
Seen in three seasons: Spring, Summer & Winter
Best seen in:  August
Seen between: June and September
Right Ascension (RA):  19 hour
Declination (DEC):  -10 degrees
Area (square degrees):  475 (84th)

Scutum  (The Shield)

• Scutum is not a large constellation that lies just south of the celestial equator in a rich area of Milky-Way.
• This constellation has some of the brightest star clouds of the Milky-Way, and has 15 Open Clusters there.

Messier Objects

• M11  –  Open Cluster;also known as The Wild Duck Cluster – readily clearly visible with binoculars and magnificent object with large telescopes; one of the most compact of all the Open Clusters.
• M26  –  Open Cluster; fairly loose, so it is not an easy object with small telescopes.

Features of Interest

• NGC 6712  –  Globular Cluster; detectable with 4-inch telescope, but still poorly resolved with 8-inch telescopes.

Named Stars

• R Scuti  –  yellow supergiant and variable star; changing from magnitude +5.7 to magnitude +8.4 and back over period of about five months, about 1º degree northwest of the Wild Duck Cluster (M11).

Others

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

 

Back to The 88 Constellations Lists  page.