Download Scorpius: The Scorpion Σκορπιος Amber Perrine Physics 1040 MWF

Scorpius: The Scorpion
Σκορπιος
Amber Perrine
Physics 1040 MWF 8 A.M.
Mythology
The constellation of Scorpius is of Greek/Roman origin. Scorpius appears in many
legends particularly being responsible for the death of the great hunter Orion as recorded in
Ovid’s Metamorphosis [2]. Scorpio’s story is also recorded in Hesiod’s The Astronomy
Fragment 4 and in Hyginus’ Astronomica [2]. Recorded in Ovid’s Metamorphosis [2], tells how
in ancient Greek times, Scorpius was a larger constellation extending over two star signs,
Scorpio and Libra where the scorpion’s claws are part of the Libra.
One story begins with Orion, the son of Poseidon, claiming that he was so mighty that he
could easily rid the whole earth of all beasts and creatures if he so desired. Apollo, Artemis’
brother went to Mother Earth and alarmed her of Orion’s boasts. Fearing one day he might act on
it, she sent a monstrous scorpion to kill Orion. Orion attacked the scorpion, first with arrows,
then with his sword. Once Orion found that the scorpion’s armor couldn’t be destroyed from any
mortal weapon, Orion dived into the sea and swam away in the direction of Delos where, he
hoped Eos would protect him. Orion had been given the gift of wading through the oceans as if
they were shallow ponds. Though Apollo knew Artemis loved Orion, he called to her asking “Do
you see that black object bobbing about in the sea? It is the head of a Candaon, a villain who has
just seduced Opos, one of your Hyperborean priestesses. I challenge you to kill it with an
arrow!” What Artemis did not know was Orion’s Boeotian nickname was Candaon, but taunted
by Apollo saying she could not hit the black speck from such a great distance, she quickly
unsheathed her bow, hit het target and went to retrieve it. But what she found was that she had
shot Orion through the head. In great grief, she urged Apollo’s son, Asclepius, to revive him in
which he agreed. Asclepius’ task was destroyed before he could accomplish it by Zeus’
thunderbolt. Artemis placed his image among the heavens eternally pursued by the Scorpion.
As told in another story, Orion was out in the woods one day when he caught sight of
seven beautiful sisters, the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Orion immediately fell in love with
all seven sisters and began to pursue them. However, the sisters were terrified of him and cried
out to Zeus to save them. Zeus heard their pleas and helped them first by turning them into doves
so they could fly away from Orion and then into the seven stars which are now called Pleiades.
Orion was stung by the scorpion as punishment for chasing the seven sisters. Zeus decided to
place Orion and the Pleiades into the heavens, arranged so that it seemed Orion was in constant
pursuit of the seven sisters, without ever becoming successful, just as the Scorpio seems always
to be chasing Orion, without ever touching him. There are many different stories told of Orion
and the Scorpio but ultimately, Orion dies by the sting of Scorpio. So when the gods gave the
Scorpion and Orion a their final resting place among the stars, they made sure to place them at
opposite ends of the sky, as if Orion is fleeing from the scorpion’s sting as it sets just as Scorpion
rises. This is why you never see these two constellations in the same sky together.
Another story about Scorpius that is quite interesting is with the legend of Phaeton, the
headstrong son of Apollo and the nymph Clymene. Phaeton was tormented at school for his
claim to be the son of a god. So he traveled to the palace of the Sun to ask his father for proof of
his divine birth. Apollo acknowledged Phaeton as his son and granted him one wish. Phaeton’s
one wish was to drive the chariot of the Sun which was his father’s responsibility of bringing day
to the world. Though Apollo agreed, he was deeply troubled and regretful, trying to warn his son
of the dangers of driving the chariot through the sky full of monsters. Apollo mentioned the
horns of the Bull, the Lion’s jaws, the Crab’s claws, and especially the Scorpio’s sing. Phaeton
abruptly insisted and, as his father feared, lost his grip of the reins at the sight of the enormous
Scorpion. With the chariot pulling the burning Sun completely out of control, the Earth became
scorched and was saved by a thunderbolt from Zeus that struck Phaeton dead.
The Constellation and Stars
The constellation Scorpius is located between Sagittarius and Libra in the sky. The
summer months, especially July, is the month for Scorpius to reign supreme in the Northern
hemisphere, while Orion takes place in the underworld. Scorpius lies close to the southern
horizon; in the Southern Hemisphere, it lies high in the sky near the center of the Milky Way. To
find it in the Northern Hemisphere, you would need an unobstructed view to the south. The
Scorpion’s tail stays partially submerged below the horizon (as seen in figure 1), but its most
spectacular star Antares, can be seen as far north as southern Alaska. The constellation of
Scorpius is located near the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The constellation is centered at
about RA 17h 55m, DEC -36° 33” and covers an area of 497 square degrees. It can be seen at
latitudes between +40° and -90°. The constellation of Scorpius is bordered by the constellations
of Sagittarius, Libra, Ophiuchus, Lupus, Borma, and Ara, and Corona Australis.
This J-shaped stick figure is easy to spot with the naked eye because it looks exactly like
a scorpion. The fishhook-shaped Scorpion’s singer is made up of two stars, Shaula, and Lesath
which dips into the Milky Way’s stream of stars. The majority of Scorpius’ bright stars are
members of the Scorpius-Centaurus Association (the closest stellar association to our solar
system). The Greeks named the brightest star in Scorpius Antares, meaning “rival to Mars,”
probably because the planet has a similar red hue as Mars. The red supergiant star is part of a
binary system and is placed in the sky just where the Scorpion’s heart should be. With a
magnitude of 0.96, it is the 15th brightest star in the sky. It is about 604 light years away, 9,000
times more luminous, and about 700 times the diameter of the Sun. The 15 brightest stars are
listed in table 1 with their location, visible magnitude, spectral classification, and distance.
Name
RA
DEC
Vis. Mag.
Distance (ly)
Spectral Class
Antares
16h29m24.4s
-26° 25’ 55”
1.06
604
M1Ib + B2.5V
17h33m36.5s
-37°06’13.7”
1.62
703
B1.5IV + (A)
17h37m19.1s
-42° 59’ 52.1”
1.87
272
F1II
16h00m20.0s
-22° 37’ 17.8”
2.29
401
B0.2IV
16h50m10.2s
-34° 17’ 33.4”
2.29
65
K2IIIb
17h42m29.2s
-39° 01’ 47.7”
2.39
464
B1.5III
16h05m26.2s
-19° 48’ 19.4”
2.56
530
B0.5V
17h30m45.8s
-37° 17’ 44.7”
2.70
518
B2IV
16h11m59.7s
-19° 27’ 39”
4.01
437
B3V
16h21m11.3s
-25° 35’ 33.9”
2.90
734
B1III
16h35m52.9s
-28° 12’ 57.5”
2.82
430
B0V
15h58m51.1s
-26° 06’ 50.6”
2.89
459
B1V + B2V
17h47m35.0s
-40° 07’ 37.1”
2.99
1791
F3Ia
16h51m52.2s
-38° 02’ 50.4”
3.00
821
B1.5IV + B
17h49m51.4s
-37° 02’ 36.1”
3.19
127
K0/K1III
α Sco
Shaula
λ Scorpii
Sargas
θ Scorpii
Dschubba
δ Scorpii
Wei
ε Scorpii
Girtab
κ Scorpii
Graffias
β Scorpii
Lesath
υ Scorpii
Jabbah
ν Sco
Alniyat
σ Scorpii
Al Niyat
τ Scorpii
Iclil
π Scorpii
Apollyon
ι1 Scorpii
Denebakrab
μ1 Scorpii
Basanismus
G Scorpii
Table #1
Objects of Interest
Because of Scorpius’ location on the Milky Way, this constellation is home to many
deep-sky objects including the open clusters Messier 6 (The Butterfly Cluster), Messier 7
(Ptolemy’s Cluster), and the globular clusters Messier 4 and Messier 80.
The Butterfly Cluster (M6), also designated as NGC 6405, is an open cluster of several
hundred stars that form a shape similar to a butterfly with open wings that is visible to the naked
eye. The cluster is between the bow of Sagittarius and the tail of Scorpius. It has an apparent
visual magnitude of 4.2 and its angular diameter is 25 arc-minutes. Messier 6 lies approximately
1,600 light years away. The brightest star in the cluster is BM Scorpii that is located on the edge
of the butterfly’s left wing. It is an orange supergiant, while most of the other bright members are
hot, blue B-type stars. (As seen in figure 2)
The Ptolemy Cluster (M7), designated as NGC 6475, is a large open cluster almost a
degree in diameter that is easily detected with the naked eye but it’s definitely best seen with
binoculars. It has a magnitude of 3.3 with the highest degree of concentration toward the center.
It contains about 80 stars, with a distance of 980 light years. Ptolemy described it as the “nebula
following the sting of Scorpius.” M7’s age is estimated at about 220 million years old and has a
combined mass of about 735 times the mass of the Sun!
Messier 4 (NGC 6121) is a loosely concentrated globular cluster easily found and
observed in small telescopes. It lies at 1.3 degrees away from Antares (the heart of the scorpion).
The cluster is approximately 7,200 light years away with a magnitude of 5.9. It is also one of the
closest globular clusters to Earth. Its age is estimated about 12.2 billion years old and is home to
many white dwarfs. Some of its brightest members appear to form a bar structure across its core
and has tens of thousands of ancient stars. One of the stars in M4 contains a shockingly large
amount of lithium. Because of this, scientists believe that this star somehow managed to retain its
original lithium or has found a way to enrich itself with fresh lithium. As Messier 4 follows an
orbit through the Milky Way, it undergoes a tidal shock, which can cause shedding of stars. So
M4 may have been much larger in the past.
Messier 80 (NGC 6093), the other globular cluster in Scorpius, can be found halfway
between Antares and Graffias (“claws”). It can be seen with a telescope as a ball of light and is
one of the densest globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. M80 contains a large number of
“Blue Stragglers” in its core (stars that appear to be much younger than the cluster itself).
Scientists suggest this is because the center is likely to have a very high capture and collision
rate.
Figure 1: Scorpius as seen from Northern Hemisphere
Figure 2: Butterfly Cluster
Bibliography
1) http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/scorpius-constellation/ accessed:
10/2/2013
2) http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/scorpius.html accessed: 10/2/2013
3) http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Skorpios.html accessed: 10/2/2013
4) http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Scorpius.html
accessed: 10/5/2013 List of Stars
5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpius (constellation) accessed: 10/5/2013
6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_in_Scorpius accessed: 10/6/2013