Saturday, September 3, 2011

#21 The Scorpion and the Archer

Happy Labor Day weekend!

The summer is coming to an end, and the night sky is becoming clearer as the Monsoon storms are dissipating. Peeks of the fall constellations are teasing my already deprived spirit.  Before we move onto the fall night sky, we must spend some time with two constellations that are a large part of the Southwestern night sky: Scorpio and Sagittarius.

Scorpio and Sagittarius are a great late summer and early fall focus, as they take up most of the south-western night sky.  They hold wonderful binocular deep-sky treasures.  You can see four "M" star clusters near or between these two Zodiac constellations.  I enjoyed each of these star clusters with only a pair of field binoculars!  It feels so nice to stand underneath the clear starry night sky again!  My wife Cassie is currently on her "scorpion hunt" with the black light flashlight and has found quite a large one on the wall in our backyard.  Interesting things these arachnids are, and glad not to have been stung by one.

Scorpio is not hard to miss, as it appears as an elongated "S" in the night sky.  Towards the middle of the constellation you will the the beautiful "jewel box" of the summer night sky: Antares, or enemy of Mars, so named due to its pinkish coloration which is similar to how the planet Mars appears in the night sky.

Scorpio also has some wonderful binocular viewing points to be aware of.  M4 is seen to the upper right of Antares (about 1 o'clock) as a beautiful globular star cluster and it is easily viewed with Antares as a viewing guide.  The tail of Scorpio holds wonderful "double" stars, twin stars sparkling within the same field of view.  Between Scorpio and Sagittarius sits M6 and M7, both about 9 o'clock from the prominent tail stars of Scorpio.  M7 is a nice example of an open star cluster, and M6 is aptly named the Butterfly cluster; can you see the butterfly pattern?

Scorpio is known as the scorpion, and at one time had also included Libra as its own.  Libra had been thought of as the scorpion's "claws" at one time, until Julius Caesar decreed the sign of the scales of Libra be created to symbolize justice and democracy.  Thus, the scorpion lost its claws, but it is still very dangerous with its stinger and venom.

Scorpio is immortalized in the night sky as the one creature that was able to take down Orion the Hunter.  Notice that Orion is the "king" of the winter night sky, and that Scorpio is the "king" of the summer night sky?  This is so both do not again meet, as they are mortal enemies.  Scorpio, at the call of Hera, landed the poisonous and deathly blow to Orion with a sting to the heel, yet took the brunt of Orion's club crushing down upon its rough exoskeleton, also causing death.  Scorpio is placed in the night sky to remind those that have a tendency to boast about their skills that even the smallest sting can unravel their inflated words.

Sagittarius is our "teapot" in the night sky, complete with the sugar spoon to the upper left (about 10 or 11 o'clock.)  Sagittarius holds the M22  globular star cluster which I call the "spoonful of sugar."  M22 can be found just above the tip-top of the teapot lid and a bit to the left (about 11 o'clock.)

Sagittarius is known as a centaur, or a half-man/half-horse creature.  This centaur is visualized as hunting with a bow and arrow in this constellation, which was not the usual hunting weapon of centaurs.  Therefore, it is thought that Sagittarius is representative of the satyr Crotus.  A satyr is a half-man/half-goat creature, with goat horns and a large goatee.  The satyr's instrument of choice was pipes, and the satyr was known to possess musical magic, known to ably soothe irritated folks or muddle the mind with illusions.

Crotus was the childhood friend of the Muses, the source of inspiration for the human arts. He studied the fine arts of hunting, athleticism, music, and art and excelled at all.  It is thought that Crotus invented rhythm as he clapped time for the muses during their lyrical songs.  It is thought also that he invented archery.  Crotus was placed in the night sky at the request of the Muses to their father, Zeus.

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