On July 22, 2018, you’ll find the moon moving through the southernmost constellation of the zodiac, Scorpius the Scorpion. The star Antares, brightest star in Scorpius, often said to described as the Scorpion’s Heart, can be found in the moon’s vicinity. This July 22 moon is in a waxing gibbous phase. It’s moving toward the full phase on July 27. This full moon will move smack-dab through the Earth’s dark shadow, to stage the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century (2001 to 2100).
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In a dark sky, you can see that the starlit band of the Milky Way runs behind Shaula and Lesath in the Tail of Scorpius. Photo by Daniel McVey. Visit his website.
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. Antares distinguishes itself by its ruddy 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
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 22, 2018, the bright waxing gibbous moon closely pairs up with Antares, heart of the Scorpion in the constellation Scorpius. The July 22 moon is waxing toward a total eclipse of the full moon on July 27, 2018.
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 https://ift.tt/2uG6Tge
On July 22, 2018, you’ll find the moon moving through the southernmost constellation of the zodiac, Scorpius the Scorpion. The star Antares, brightest star in Scorpius, often said to described as the Scorpion’s Heart, can be found in the moon’s vicinity. This July 22 moon is in a waxing gibbous phase. It’s moving toward the full phase on July 27. This full moon will move smack-dab through the Earth’s dark shadow, to stage the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century (2001 to 2100).
Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!
In a dark sky, you can see that the starlit band of the Milky Way runs behind Shaula and Lesath in the Tail of Scorpius. Photo by Daniel McVey. Visit his website.
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. Antares distinguishes itself by its ruddy 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
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 22, 2018, the bright waxing gibbous moon closely pairs up with Antares, heart of the Scorpion in the constellation Scorpius. The July 22 moon is waxing toward a total eclipse of the full moon on July 27, 2018.
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 https://ift.tt/2uG6Tge
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