August 2012 Constellation of the Month - Scorpius

Scorpius, the scorpion, is one of the largest constellations, and one of the most recognizable.  It is low in the South, with the curved tail at the bottom and the head at the top.  You may need to find an elevated viewing spot where the southern horizon is not obscured by trees in order to see the entire constellation.  In Greek mythology, Scorpius killed Orion the Hunter, our March 2012 constellation of the month.

It's brightest star, Antares, is a red supergiant, more than 800 times larger than our Sun.  If it were in our solar system, its surface would extend  beyond Mars.  So, the first 4 planets in our solar system, including Earth, would not exist.  And Jupiter would be much warmer than it is now.,

The open star cluster, M7, is located just beyond the tip of the tail.  It covers an area about twice the size of the Moon; it is best viewed with binoculars.  

After the Sun, the next strongest source of X-rays is Scorpius X-1.  It is a binary star (two stars circling each other), in which the intense gravity of one of the stars draws material off the other star.  This material circles the first star in a disk shape and then falls to the surface of the star. The acceleration of the charged particles in the disk causes a tremendous amount of energy to be released as X-rays.