Download Hall Scorpius constellation (11) Jacob Hall Physics 1040, sec 002

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Scorpius constellation
(11)
Jacob Hall
Physics 1040, sec 002
10:00-10:50
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Greek Mythology
Greek mythology Pseudo-Hesiod, The Astronomy Fragment 4
Scorpius was a giant scorpion sent by the earth-goddess Gaia to slay Orion when he was
boastful enough to say he could slay all the beasts of the earth. Orion and the Scorpion were
afterwards placed in the stars as a pair of Constellations. The two combatants are never seen in
the sky at the same time, for one constellation sets as the other rises. The scorpion's claws were
originally formed by Libra. "Hesiod says that . . . Orion went away to Krete and spent his time
hunting with Artemis and Leto. It seems that he threatened to kill every beast that was on earth,
this angered Ge (the Earth). Ge set up a battle against Orion and the scorpion which was very
large, it stung Orion and he died. After this Zeus, at the prayer of Artemis and Leto, put him
among the stars, because of his manliness, and the Scorpion also as a memorial of him and of
what had happened that day. (1)
Constellation and stars
Scorpius is a constellation in the southern hemisphere, located near the center of the
Milky Way galaxy. It was one of the constellations introduced by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy
in the 2nd century. Scorpius represents the scorpion that stung and killed Orion, the mythical
hunter who boasted that he could kill any wild animal. The Earth sent the scorpion to kill Orion
after hearing what he had said. In another version of the Greek tale, it was the goddess Artemis
who sent the scorpion after Orion had tried to ravish her. Even today, it is said that Orion flees
under the horizon whenever Scorpius rises in the sky. The two constellations are placed opposite
each other. Scorpius is depicted with its tail and sting poised in the air, ready to strike. (2)
The constellation Scorpius occupies an area of 497 square degrees and contains ten stars
with known planets. It can be seen at latitudes between +40° and -90° and is best visible at 9
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p.m. during the month of July. Astronomically, the Sun lingers in Scorpius only for a week, from
November 23 to November 30, but most astrologers consider it to be in the sign of Scorpio from
October 23 to November 23. Scorpius contains a number of bright stars, most of which are
members of the Scorpius-Centaurus family. The brightest star in the Scorpius constellation is
7516 alpha Scorpii, or Antares. It is called “like Mars” because of its reddish-orange color which
is the same color as the planet Mars. Antares is a red supergiant with a radius about 800 times
that of the Sun. It is classified as a variable star; its apparent magnitude varies between 0.9 and
1.8. It has a hot blue companion star about 2.9 arcseconds away. (2)
Antares is the 16th brightest star in the sky. It is approximately 600 light-years distant
from Earth. It is also of the brightest stars near the ecliptic, the Sun’s apparent path in the sky.
The only other first magnitude stars on the ecliptic are 7931 Aldebaran 8774 Spica or alpha
Virginis and 4806 Regulus or alpha Leonis. Antares is significant in many different cultures. In
Arab tradition, it was said to be the star of the warrior poet Antarah ibn Shaddad. Arabs also used
to call the star Kalb al Akrab "the scorpion's hart" a translation of the ancient Greek name for the
star, Kardia Scorpiou. In Egyptian tradition, the light of Antares played an important part in the
ceremonies performed in the temples. Ancient Persians called the star Satevis and considered it
to be one of the four "royal stars." Antares was also important in the religion of Stregheria, a
pagan, pre-Christian religion in Italy in which the star was believed to be a fallen angel and
guardian of the western gate. (2)
Star 7517 or lambda Scorpii, the second brightest star in Scorpius, is also called Shaula or
"the sting”. It is located at the end of the scorpion’s tail, marking the sting. Shaula is a multiple
star, composed of a B-type subgiant. Shaula is approximately 700 light-years away. 7522-7553
beta Scorpii, also known as Graffias "claws" and Acrab "scorpion", is another multiple star
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system. Acrab appears as a binary star composed of two hot, B-class stars. 7520 delta Scorpii, or
Dschubba "forehead" marks the middle of the scorpion’s head. It is a multiple star with a hot
class B star. It lies about 402 light-years from Earth. Star 7518 theta Scorpii is a yellow giant star
approximately 270 light-years distant, whose luminosity is 960 times that of the Sun. It is also
known by its Sumerian names Girtab or "the scorpion." Star 7535 nu Scorpii or Jabbah " the
forehead" has at least four components, split into two groups. The brighter pair consists of B
class subgiants and the fainter pair is composed of B class main sequence dwarfs. The star
system lies approximately 437 light-years from Earth. Constellations directly bordering Scorpius
are Sagittarius, Ophiuchus, Libra, Lupus, Norma, Ara and Corona Australis. (2,7)
Objects of interest
Messier 4 or M4 also known as NGC 6121 is a cluster in the constellation of Scorpius. It was
discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1746 and catalogued by Charles Messier in 1764. It
was the first globular cluster in which individual stars were resolved. It appears about the same
size as the Moon in the sky. It is one of the easiest globular clusters to find, being located only
1.3 degrees west of the bright star Antares, with both objects being visible in a wide field
telescope. Modestly sized telescopes will begin to resolve individual stars of which the brightest
in M4 are of apparent magnitude 10.8. Messier 4 contains several tens of thousand stars and is
noteworthy for being home to many white dwarfs. (3)
Messier 80 also known as M80 or NGC 6093 is a globular cluster in the constellation
Scorpius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. M80 is located midway between α
Scorpii Antares and β Scorpii in a field in the Milky Way that is rich in nebulae. It can be viewed
with modest amateur telescopes as a mottled ball of light. With an apparent diameter of about 10'
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and at an estimated distance of 32,600 light-years, M80's spatial diameter is about 95 light-years.
It contains several hundred thousand stars, and is among the more densely populated globular
clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. M80 contains a relatively large number of blue stragglers,
stars that appear to be much younger than the cluster itself. It is thought these stars have lost part
of their outer layers due to close encounters with other cluster members or perhaps the result of
collisions between stars in the dense cluster. Images from the Hubble Space Telescope have
shown districts of very high blue straggler densities, suggesting that the center of the cluster is
likely to have a very high capture and collision rate. (4)
Messier 7 or M7, also designated NGC 6475 and sometimes known as the Ptolemy Cluster, is
an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Scorpius. The cluster is easily detectable with the
naked eye, close to the "stinger" of Scorpius with a declination of -34.8°, it is the southernmost
Messier object. It was first recorded by the 1st-century Greek-Roman astronomer Ptolemy, who
described it as a nebula in 130 AD. Italian astronomer Giovanni Batista Hodierna observed it
before 1654 and counted 30 stars in it. In 1764, French astronomer Charles Messier catalogued
the cluster as the seventh member in his list of comet-like objects. English astronomer John
Herschel described it as "coarsely scattered clusters of stars". Telescopic observations of the
cluster reveal about 80 stars within a field of view of 1.3° across, the tidal radius of the cluster is
40.1 light years and it has a combined mass of about 735 times the mass of the Sun.The age of
the cluster is around 200 million years while the brightest member star is of magnitude 5.6. The
cluster contains a similar abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium as the Sun. (5)
The Butterfly Cluster, or Messier 6 also known as NGC 6405 is an open cluster of stars that
form a shape similar to that of a butterfly. The brightest star in the cluster is BM Scorpii, an
orange supergiant, while most of the other bright members are hot, blue B-type stars. The first
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astronomer to record the Butterfly Cluster's existence was Giovanni Battista Hodierna in 1654.
However, Robert Burnham, Jr has proposed that the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy may have
seen it with the naked eye while observing its neighbor the Ptolemy Cluster (Messier 7). Charles
Messier catalogued the cluster as M6 in 1764. It was not till the 20th century that star counts,
distance, and other properties were measured. (2,6)
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(9)
(10)
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Sources Cited
(1) "SCORPIUS : Giant Scorpion ; Greek Mythology ; Constellation Scorpio :
SKORPIOS."SCORPIUS : Giant Scorpion ; Greek Mythology ; Constellation Scorpio :
SKORPIOS. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. <http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Skorpios.html>.
(2) "Scorpius." Constellation on Top Astronomer. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.topastronomer.com/StarCharts/Constellations/Scorpius.php>.
(3) "Messier 4." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_4>.
(4) "Messier 80." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_80>
(5) "Messier 7." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_7>.
(6) "Butterfly Cluster." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_Cluster>.
(7) Nigro, Nicholas J. "Scorpius." Night Sky: Decoding the Solar System, from
Constellations to Black Holes. Guilford, CT: Knack, 2010. Print.
(8) "List of Stars in Scorpius." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_in_Scorpius>.
(9) "Constellation: Scorpius." Frosty Drew Observatory & Sky Theatre. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
<http://frostydrew.org/stars.dc/constellation/constellation-73/>.
(10)
"Scorpius." The Stellar Guide:. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.botproductions.com/stellar/scorpius.html>.
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(11)
"Star Tales – Scorpius." Star Tales – Scorpius. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/scorpius.htm>.
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Name
Antares A
λ Sco
θ Sco
δ Sco
ε Sco
κ Sco
β1 Sco
υ Sco
τ Sco
RA
16h 29m
−26° 25′
24.47s
55.0″
17h 33m
−37° 06′
36.53s
13.5″
17h 37m
−42° 59′
19.13s
52.2″
16h 00m
−22° 37′
20.01s
17.8″
16h 50m
−34° 17′
10.24s
33.4″
17h 42m
−39° 01′
29.28s
47.7″
16h 05m
−19° 48′
26.23s
19.4″
17h 30m
−37° 17′
45.84s
44.7″
16h 35m
−28° 12′
52.96s
π Sco
15h 58m
51.12s
σ Sco
Declination
16h 21m
Visual
Spectral
Steller
Magnitude
Class
distance (Ly)
0.91
M1.5Iab-b
553
1.62
B2IV+DA7.9
703
1.86
F1II
272
2.29
B0.2IVe
401
2.29
K2IIIb
65
2.39
B1.5III
464
2.62
B0.5V
530
2.70
B2IV
518
2.82
B0V
430
2.89
B1V + B2V
459
2.90
B1III
734
57.5″
−26° 06′
50.6″
−25° 35′
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11.32s
ι1 Sco
μ1 Sco
G Sco
η Sco
μ2 Sco
ζ2 Sco
ρ Sco
ω1 Sco
ν Sco
33.9″
17h 47m
−40° 07′
35.08s
37.1″
16h 51m
−38° 02′
52.24s
50.4″
17h 49m
−37° 02′
51.45s
36.1″
17h 12m
−43° 14′
09.18s
18.6″
16h 52m
−38° 01′
20.15s
02.9″
16h 54m
−42° 21′
35.11s
38.7″
15h 56m
−29° 12′
53.09s
50.4″
16h 06m
−20° 40′
48.43s
08.9″
16h 11m
−19° 27′
59.74s
38.3″
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2.99
F3Ia
1791
3.00
B1.5IV + B
821
3.19
K0/K1III
127
3.32
F3p
72
3.56
B2IV
517
3.62
K4III
150
3.87
B2IV/V
409
3.93
B1V
423
4.00
B2IV
436