It's part of the Zodiac constellation family. The primary star in the Lambda Scorpii A system is a Beta Cephei type variable. A planet believed to be a gas giant was discovered orbiting the star in 2007, and another extrasolar planet was discovered in 2012. Located near the brightest section of the Milky Way, when Scorpius sits low in the Southwest it appears the creature is being punished by hot boiling water flowing from the tea pot (Sagittarius). It has an apparent magnitude of 7.87 and is approximately 32,600 light years distant from the Sun. Along with NGC 6397 in the constellation Ara, which is also 7,200 light years away, Messier 4 is the closest globular cluster to our solar system. (The last recorded occultation by Venus occurred on September 17, 525 BC.). It is classified as a variable, as its brightness varies slightly, only by 0.01-0.02 magnitudes. Scorpius is a southern constellation which appears highest in the evening sky in the months around May. These 12 are called the constellations of the zodiac . It is a hot star, with a mass 15 times that of the Sun and a radius more than six times solar. It has an apparent magnitude of 1.87 and is approximately 300 light years distant from the solar system. The story behind the constellation in Scorpio mythology has many possible origins, but the one that is most often referenced is the story of Scorpio versus Orion. The name Antares comes from the ancient Greek Άντάρης, which has been translated as “anti-Ares,” “rival of Mars,” or “like Mars,” referring to the similarity of the star’s red hue to that of the planet Mars. The comparison possibly dates way back to Mesopotamian astronomers. The primary star in the system is a blue-white subgiant with an apparent magnitude of 3.87. This myth serves as a reminder to mortal men to avoid arrogance and boastfulness and to care for all creatures, large and small. M4 is easy to find in the sky, as it lies 1.3 degrees west of Antares. Scorpius is one of the 48 constellations identified by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century. The scorpion once had claws, but they were cut off by Julius Ceasar to form the constellation Libra. Orion was the son of the God of the Sea, Poseidon (Neptune to the Romans) by a mortal woman. It was discovered by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751. It emits X-rays, and shows an enhanced abundance of barium in its spectrum. According to one story, Orion wanted to kill all the earth's wild animals. Lambda Scorpii B lies 42 arc seconds away from the first component, and Lambda Scorpii C is a 12th magnitude star 95 arc seconds away from component A. The system has the proper name Jabhat al Akrab, derived from the Arabic jabhat[u] al-caqrab, which means “the forehead of the scorpion.”. It has a companion star, Antares B, about 529 astronomical units (AU) away. The cluster contains about 125 visible stars. The accumulated hydrogen ignites, causing nuclear fusion. It has a 10th magnitude companion at a separation of 37.5 seconds of arc. Scorpius has many bright stars, including Antares (α Sco), Graffias (β1 Sco), Dschubba (δ Sco), Sargas (θ Sco), Shaula (λ Sco), Jabbah (ν Sco), Girtab (ξ Sco), Iclil (π Sco), Alniyat (a name shared by two stars: σ Sco and τ Sco) and Lesath (υ Sco). The Scorpius Constellation. The Constellation of Scorpius in its IAU boundary Constellations are how we break the sky up so we can find objects However, we commonly associate this constellation with the Greek origins, associated with the story of Orion in Greek mythology. Beta Scorpii’s traditional name, Acrab (Akrab, Elacrab) is derived from the Arabic al-‘Aqrab, which means “the scorpion.” The star’s other proper name, Graffias, which it shares with Xi Scorpii, means “the claws.”. It has an apparent magnitude of 5.4 and is about 1,611 light years distant from the Sun. 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