Tonight – July 26, 2015 – the southernmost constellation of the Zodiac – Scorpius the Scorpion – lurks low in the evening sky. You can locate the Scorpion because the moon is moving through this part of the sky. You’ll find star Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion, and the planet Saturn, near the July 26 waxing gibbous moon.
This July 26 moon, by the way, is moving toward full phase for the second time this month. Many people call the second of two full moons in one month a blue moon.
Read more: Blue Moon – second July full moon – on July 31
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You might have difficulty visualizing the J-shaped Scorpion in the glaring moonlight on July 26, but you should be able to see the star Antares and the planet Saturn.
From the perspective of mid-northern latitudes, the Scorpion skitters near the southern horizon during the evening hours, with its fishhook-shaped tail scraping along the ground. It may be difficult to view the J-shaped Scorpion in the glaring moonlight tonight, but it’ll be easier to view the constellation Scorpius in all its starlit majesty by around the time of August’s Perseid meteor shower. Even on this moonlit night, however, Antares, the Scorpion’s brightest star, should be fairly easy to see. It’s a reddish star and one of the brightest in the sky. You can distinguish ruddy Antares from the nearby golden planet Saturn by color.
The Scorpion’s nighttime presence tells stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere that Orion the Hunter – sometimes called the ghost of the summer dawn – is nowhere to be found in the night sky. According to star lore, Orion – a man of great beauty and a gifted hunter – boasted of his great prowess and was convinced of his own invincibility. He finally met his match, though, when the gods made sure that the Scorpion’s sting would put Orion to death.
To immortalize this story about Orion and the Scorpion, the gods turned the two archenemies into constellations. But they decided not to place these two combatants into the same sky together – so, to this day, one of these constellations never enters into the stage of sky until the other one has already left it.
Scorpius as portrayed by Urania’s Mirror. Image credit: Wikipedia
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Of course, there’s a moral to this timeless tale, often overlooked by people of great beauty and inherent ability. Our talents are given to us by the gods. To appreciate these gifts, and to make good use of them, repays our debt to the gods. But to brag about, or to abuse a god-given endowment is to incur the gods’ displeasure.
This story – almost certainly – could only have originated in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealanders see Orion climbing into the eastern sky in the wee hours before dawn right now – and at the same time, see the Scorpion’s stinger stars jutting up into the southwest sky. Not too surprisingly, many native Polynesians associate a different story with the constellation Scorpius, viewing its graceful J-shaped curve of stars as a Magic Fishhook.
Bottom line: On July 26, 2015, the bright waxing gibbous moon closely pairs up with Antares, heart of the Scorpion in the constellation Scorpius. Tonight’s moon is waxing toward blue moon.
Scorpius? Here’s your constellation
Antares: Heart of the Scorpion
Lesath and Shaula: Scorpion’s stinger stars
Orion the Hunter: Ghost of the summer dawn
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1M5IsMr
Tonight – July 26, 2015 – the southernmost constellation of the Zodiac – Scorpius the Scorpion – lurks low in the evening sky. You can locate the Scorpion because the moon is moving through this part of the sky. You’ll find star Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion, and the planet Saturn, near the July 26 waxing gibbous moon.
This July 26 moon, by the way, is moving toward full phase for the second time this month. Many people call the second of two full moons in one month a blue moon.
Read more: Blue Moon – second July full moon – on July 31
Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!
You might have difficulty visualizing the J-shaped Scorpion in the glaring moonlight on July 26, but you should be able to see the star Antares and the planet Saturn.
From the perspective of mid-northern latitudes, the Scorpion skitters near the southern horizon during the evening hours, with its fishhook-shaped tail scraping along the ground. It may be difficult to view the J-shaped Scorpion in the glaring moonlight tonight, but it’ll be easier to view the constellation Scorpius in all its starlit majesty by around the time of August’s Perseid meteor shower. Even on this moonlit night, however, Antares, the Scorpion’s brightest star, should be fairly easy to see. It’s a reddish star and one of the brightest in the sky. You can distinguish ruddy Antares from the nearby golden planet Saturn by color.
The Scorpion’s nighttime presence tells stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere that Orion the Hunter – sometimes called the ghost of the summer dawn – is nowhere to be found in the night sky. According to star lore, Orion – a man of great beauty and a gifted hunter – boasted of his great prowess and was convinced of his own invincibility. He finally met his match, though, when the gods made sure that the Scorpion’s sting would put Orion to death.
To immortalize this story about Orion and the Scorpion, the gods turned the two archenemies into constellations. But they decided not to place these two combatants into the same sky together – so, to this day, one of these constellations never enters into the stage of sky until the other one has already left it.
Scorpius as portrayed by Urania’s Mirror. Image credit: Wikipedia
Donate: Your support means the world to us
Of course, there’s a moral to this timeless tale, often overlooked by people of great beauty and inherent ability. Our talents are given to us by the gods. To appreciate these gifts, and to make good use of them, repays our debt to the gods. But to brag about, or to abuse a god-given endowment is to incur the gods’ displeasure.
This story – almost certainly – could only have originated in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealanders see Orion climbing into the eastern sky in the wee hours before dawn right now – and at the same time, see the Scorpion’s stinger stars jutting up into the southwest sky. Not too surprisingly, many native Polynesians associate a different story with the constellation Scorpius, viewing its graceful J-shaped curve of stars as a Magic Fishhook.
Bottom line: On July 26, 2015, the bright waxing gibbous moon closely pairs up with Antares, heart of the Scorpion in the constellation Scorpius. Tonight’s moon is waxing toward blue moon.
Scorpius? Here’s your constellation
Antares: Heart of the Scorpion
Lesath and Shaula: Scorpion’s stinger stars
Orion the Hunter: Ghost of the summer dawn
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1M5IsMr
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