|
The Scorpion. Scorpius is the beast which stung and killed the Great Hunter, Orion.
Anatres, the heart of the Scorpion, is fittingly bright red, now known to be a cool, supergiant star. Antares means
"The rival of Mars", (Ant-Ares, against Ares), and every few years Mars comes fairly close to
Antares, so that observers
can compare the two. One such time is in the year 2001, when they are only a few degrees apart in early March. Scorpius
also has a large globular cluster, M4, and another small globular, M80, not far from
Antares. At the end of the
stinger, there are 2 large open clusters, M6 and M7, that are visible to the naked eye under dark skies.
|