Finding it in the sky
When to look
Summer nights, from May to August, looking south and rather low. When it starts setting right after the Sun, it means summer is ending.
How to recognize it
Look low in the south for a clearly red, very bright star: it is the heart. From there three stars in a row form the head, and on the other side runs the long curve of the tail.
The main stars
- AntaresAlfa Scorpii
- ShaulaLambda Scorpii
- AcrabBeta Scorpii
- DschubbaDelta Scorpii
To get an idea
Scorpius and Orion sit on opposite sides of the sky: when one rises, the other sets.
The farther north you go, the more of the tail stays below the horizon: from some places you see only the head.
Fun facts
These are not in the book: there was no room on paper.
It lies toward the center of the Milky Way, so its background is full of faint stars.
Next to Antares, with small binoculars, you can glimpse M4, a ball of very ancient stars.
The peoples of Polynesia did not see an animal in these stars, but a big fishhook.
The Sumerians knew this figure more than five thousand years ago and called it GIR-TAB.
When it starts setting right after the Sun, it means summer is about to end.
In the myth it killed the hunter Orion, and that is why the two were put on opposite sides of the sky.
Test yourself
The first question is the one printed under the QR code, with the answer the book did not give. The other four only exist here.
Question 1 of 5★ is the one from your book
What is Antares?
Question 2 of 5
Where do you look to find it?
Question 3 of 5
In what season is it best to watch?
Question 4 of 5
Which constellation does it never meet?
Question 5 of 5
Why is the background so full of stars?
Riddles
I have a red heart you can see with the naked eye and a tail that ends in a stinger. I stay low, toward the south, and I show myself only on the warmest nights of the year. What am I?
In the ancient tale I killed a hunter, and ever since they keep us apart: when I climb on one side, he slips down on the other. We never meet. What am I?
The peoples of the Pacific did not see an animal in me but a big fishhook, with its tip curved downward. I lie across the center of our galaxy. What am I?
Try it yourself
If the southern horizon is clear, follow the curve that runs down from that red star: if you reach the stinger, you are far enough south to see it all.
Point binoculars just beside the red star: instead of a dot, a round, fuzzy patch will appear, made of a great many stars together.
The words
- globular cluster
- A ball of a great many ancient stars, held together by gravity.
- zodiac
- The band of constellations crossed by the Sun's apparent path.
Sources: Wikidata (Q10437), Wikipedia (Scorpione (costellazione)).