It is the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation and the 16th brightest star in the night sky. Major stars in Scorpius Antares вЂ“ О± Scorpii (Alpha Scorpii)ДЄntares is a red supergiant star with a visual magnitude of 0.96, approximately 550 light years distant from the Sun. The latter was called Chelae, or вЂњclaws.вЂќ In the first century BC, the Romans turned the claws into a separate constellation, Libra, the Scales. In ancient Greek times, the constellation Scorpius was significantly larger and comprised of two halves, one with the scorpionвЂ™s body and the sting, and one containing the claws. In another version, it was the Earth that sent the scorpion after Orion had boasted that he could defeat any wild beast. In one version of the myth, Orion tried to ravish the goddess Artemis and she sent the scorpion to do away with him. The two constellations lie opposite each other in the sky, and Orion is said to be fleeing from the scorpion as it sets just as Scorpius rises.

In Greek mythology, the constellation Scorpius was identified with the scorpion that stung Orion, the mythical hunter. Scorpius constellation map by IAU and Sky&Telescope magazine Myth

The star names approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) are Acrab, Alniyat, Antares, DГ¬wГ¶, Dschubba, Fang, Fuyue, Iklil, Jabbah, Larawag, Lesath, Paikauhale, Pipirima, Rapeto, Sargas, Sharjah, Shaula, and Xamidimura. The constellation Scorpius contains 18 named stars. There are two meteor showers associated with the constellation: the Alpha Scorpiids and the Omega Scorpiids. Antares is also one of the brightest stars in the sky. The brightest star in the constellation is Antares, Alpha Scorpii, with an apparent magnitude of 0.96. Scorpius contains four Messier objects вЂ“ Messier 4 (M4, NGC 6121), Messier 6 (M6, NGC 6405, Butterfly Cluster), Messier 7 (M7, NGC 6475, Ptolemy Cluster) and Messier 80 (NGC 6093). Scorpius belongs to the Zodiac family of constellations, along with Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces. The neighboring constellations are Ara, Corona Australis, Libra, Lupus, Norma, Ophiuchus and Sagittarius. It lies in the third quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ3) and can be seen at latitudes between +40В° and -90В°. Scorpius is the 33rd constellation in size, occupying an area of 497 square degrees. It contains a number of notable stars and deep sky objects, including the bright stars Antares and Shaula, the Butterfly Cluster ( Messier 6), the Ptolemy Cluster ( Messier 7), CatвЂ™s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334), the Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302), and the War and Peace Nebula (NGC 6357) Facts, location and map The constellation is easy to find in the sky because it is located near the centre of the Milky Way. The Sumerians called it GIR-TAB, or вЂњthe scorpion,вЂќ about 5,000 years ago. Scorpius pre-dates the Greeks, and is one of the oldest constellations known.

Scorpius is one of the zodiac constellations, first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. It represents the scorpion and is associated with the story of Orion in Greek mythology. Scorpius constellation lies in the southern sky.

Arabic calligrapher scorpion