Scorpio - the constellation is the most wrong, in terms of the zodiac circle. According to the boundaries of the constellations that were finally approved in 1935, it only accounts for a small piece of the ecliptic on November 23-29, after which the Sun goes into the constellation Ophiuchus, which is not considered to be the zodiac. Because of this, the astrological community is constantly debating about the truth or falsity of horoscopes associated with Scorpio. However, this article will focus on the knowledge gained by those who are patronized by Urania.
General excursion
There are not so many constellations in the sky that are really similar to the object they represent. Heavenly Scorpio actually resembles the earthly arthropod. It is no coincidence that the Aztecs quite independently of the Greeks called him by the same name. Very interesting is the fact that the constellation Scorpio in the sky with its relatively small sizes is very bright: more than a dozen stars in it are brighter than 3 m . If you look at it where there is no light “smog” (in the countryside), you can clearly see that Scorpio seems to bathe in the Milky Way, plunging his “tail” into one of the richest sections of the arm of our Galaxy.
The most interesting objects
Antares . The brightest star in the constellation Scorpio, is included in the host of the most conspicuous stars in the earth's sky. A red supergiant very similar to Mars in its color and brightness (0.86 m ). It is a visual double star, and in the blood-red glow, the bluish-white Antares appears green.
Beta Scorpio (Akrab) . This star is like a nesting doll. At first it was assumed that this is a classic double luminary. However, careful research has shown that in the Akrab system there are at least five stars orbiting their companions. It is assumed that fivefold is not the limit.
Scorpio X-1 . The strongest source of radiation in the x-ray range, second only to the sun. In its place, the hot blue variable V818 Scorpio was discovered. A binary system with a neutron star is suspected.
GRO J1655-40 . A double star, one of the components of which is invisible from the Earth. Nevertheless, it was possible to establish that the invisibility literally devours gas, “pulled” from a visible star. Perhaps Scorpio is a constellation with its own " black hole."
1RXS J160929.1-210524 . An orange dwarf, inferior to the Sun in mass only 15%. In 2008, a planet with 8.4 Jupiter masses was discovered by this star, which for the first time in the history of astronomy was photographed using a telescope.
Gliese 667C . This star, already quite well studied by astronomers, in 2013 gave them a surprise (in general, Scorpio is a constellation of surprises.) Three planets of the “super-earth” type have already been discovered, and they are located at such a distance from the star that allows water to exist in their liquid state . Scientists are now looking for a tentative fourth.
To this it should be added that it was in the constellation Scorpio in 134 BC. e. Hipparchus, an outstanding astronomer of antiquity, observed the birth of a new star. This event prompted him to begin compiling his famous star catalog, the first in Europe.
Scorpio is a constellation, not also deprived of other astronomical objects. Five star clusters are located on its territory : two globular and three open.