Constellation Scorpion (Scorpius)
Scorpion is one of the 88 constellations that carve up the sky. It sits in the southern half of the sky and rides highest overhead around May.
Bright stars in Scorpion
| Name | Bayer | Magnitude | Type | Distance (ly) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antares | alpha Sco | 1.06 | M1.5Iab | 553.0 |
| Shaula | lambda Sco | 1.62 | B1.5IV | 700.0 |
| Sargas | theta Sco | 1.87 | F1II | 270.0 |
| Dschubba | delta Sco | 2.29 | B0.3IV | 444.0 |
| Acrab | beta Sco | 2.50 | B0.5V | 530.0 |
| Antares B | alpha Sco B | 5.50 | B2.5V | 553.0 |
About the constellation
The constellation Scorpion (Latin Scorpius) lies in the southern half of the sky. It passes highest around midnight in May, so the weeks around then are the easiest time to track it down. Its brightest star is Antares, at magnitude 1.1, easy to pick out even from a lit-up city. From most of the southern hemisphere it climbs into view at some point in the year. Astronomers label its stars with the genitive form Scorpii, as in "Alpha Scorpii".
Other constellations
And Ant Aps Aql Aqr Ara Ari Aur Boo Cae Cam Cnc CVn CMa CMi Cap Car Cas Cen Cep Cet Cha Cir Col Com CrA CrB Crv Crt Cru Cyg Del Dor Dra Equ Eri For Gem Gru Her Hor Hya Hyi Ind Lac Leo LMi Lep Lib Lup Lyn Lyr Men Mic Mon Mus Nor Oct Oph Ori Pav Peg Per Phe Pic Psc PsA Pup Pyx Ret Sge Sgr Scl Sct Ser Sex Tau Tel Tri TrA Tuc UMa UMi Vel Vir Vol Vul