Image credit: Till Grednar On a dark, moonless night, look for Ophichus above the bright ruddy star Antares
Image credit for the Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer: Wikipedia
Tonight, look for the faint constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer. It appears in the southwest sky on late August and September evenings, above the bright ruddy star Antares, the brightest in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion.
On our featured chart at top, we show the ecliptic – the sun’s path in front of the constellations, highlighting Scorpius and just the southern tip of Ophiuchus.
Born late November to middle December? Here’s your constellation
The official boundary lines as displayed on the above chart were drawn up by the International Astronomical Union in the 1930s. The photo to the right of the constellation Ophiuchus labels Ophiuchus’ brightest star, Rasalhague, and Scorpius’ brightest star, Antares. Rasalhague marks the head of Ophiuchus but is nowhere as bright as Antares, the star that depicts the Scorpion’s beating heart.
The Zodiac – or ‘pathway of animals’ – represents the rather narrow band of of sky astride the ecliptic, which is the plane of Earth’s orbit projected onto the sphere of stars. The signs of the Zodiac are familiar to all who read online astrology advice. There are 12 familiar signs of the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer and so on. Then there are the 13 constellations of the Zodiac, and Ophiuchus is sometimes called the 13th or “forgotten” constellation. The sun moves in front of Ophiuchus from about November 30 to December 18 each year. And yet no one ever says they’re born when the sun is in Ophiuchus.
On sky maps, Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer is depicted as holding Serpens the Serpent, which is considered a separate constellation. According to ancient Greek star lore, Ophiuchus is Asclepius, the physician who concocted a healing potion from the Serpent’s venom, mixing it with the Gorgon’s blood and an unknown herb. This potion gave humans access to immortality, until the god of the underworld appealed to Zeus to reconsider the ramifications of the death of death.
Even today, the Staff of Asclepius – symbol of the World Heath Organization and other medical organizations – pays tribute to the constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.
July 1997 image of the bright star Aldebaran just reappearing on the dark limb of the waning crescent moon after an occultation. There will be another occultation of Aldebaran on the night of August 8-9, 2015. Click here for details. Image via Wikipedia
Are you a night owl or early bird? If so, look for the waning moon to be in the vicinity of the bright star Aldebaran from late night until dawn.
In fact, as seen from eastern Europe and the Middle East, the moon will actually occult – cover over – Aldebaran sometime on the night of August 8-9, 2015. In Moscow, Russia, people can watch the moon occult Aldebaran on August 9, from 1:25 to 2:13 a.m. Moscow Standard Time. Click here to find out more occultation times. Just remember to convert from Universal Time to the local clock reading in your time zone.
The waning moon descends for the eastern horizon until it turns new on August 14, 2015. The green line depicts the ecliptic – Earth’s orbital plane projected outward onto the constellations of the Zodiac.
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Image credit: Till Grednar On a dark, moonless night, look for Ophichus above the bright ruddy star Antares
Image credit for the Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer: Wikipedia
Tonight, look for the faint constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer. It appears in the southwest sky on late August and September evenings, above the bright ruddy star Antares, the brightest in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion.
On our featured chart at top, we show the ecliptic – the sun’s path in front of the constellations, highlighting Scorpius and just the southern tip of Ophiuchus.
Born late November to middle December? Here’s your constellation
The official boundary lines as displayed on the above chart were drawn up by the International Astronomical Union in the 1930s. The photo to the right of the constellation Ophiuchus labels Ophiuchus’ brightest star, Rasalhague, and Scorpius’ brightest star, Antares. Rasalhague marks the head of Ophiuchus but is nowhere as bright as Antares, the star that depicts the Scorpion’s beating heart.
The Zodiac – or ‘pathway of animals’ – represents the rather narrow band of of sky astride the ecliptic, which is the plane of Earth’s orbit projected onto the sphere of stars. The signs of the Zodiac are familiar to all who read online astrology advice. There are 12 familiar signs of the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer and so on. Then there are the 13 constellations of the Zodiac, and Ophiuchus is sometimes called the 13th or “forgotten” constellation. The sun moves in front of Ophiuchus from about November 30 to December 18 each year. And yet no one ever says they’re born when the sun is in Ophiuchus.
On sky maps, Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer is depicted as holding Serpens the Serpent, which is considered a separate constellation. According to ancient Greek star lore, Ophiuchus is Asclepius, the physician who concocted a healing potion from the Serpent’s venom, mixing it with the Gorgon’s blood and an unknown herb. This potion gave humans access to immortality, until the god of the underworld appealed to Zeus to reconsider the ramifications of the death of death.
Even today, the Staff of Asclepius – symbol of the World Heath Organization and other medical organizations – pays tribute to the constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.
July 1997 image of the bright star Aldebaran just reappearing on the dark limb of the waning crescent moon after an occultation. There will be another occultation of Aldebaran on the night of August 8-9, 2015. Click here for details. Image via Wikipedia
Are you a night owl or early bird? If so, look for the waning moon to be in the vicinity of the bright star Aldebaran from late night until dawn.
In fact, as seen from eastern Europe and the Middle East, the moon will actually occult – cover over – Aldebaran sometime on the night of August 8-9, 2015. In Moscow, Russia, people can watch the moon occult Aldebaran on August 9, from 1:25 to 2:13 a.m. Moscow Standard Time. Click here to find out more occultation times. Just remember to convert from Universal Time to the local clock reading in your time zone.
The waning moon descends for the eastern horizon until it turns new on August 14, 2015. The green line depicts the ecliptic – Earth’s orbital plane projected outward onto the constellations of the Zodiac.
Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!
Meteor season is here! Everything you need to know: Perseid meteor shower
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1T3CTTc
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