Signs of the Zodiac: Scorpio - temple society australia

SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC, SCORPIO
Scorpius (Latin: Scorpio) is the eighth astrological sign in the
Zodiac. It spans from 210 to 240 degree of the zodiac,
between 207.25 and 234.75 degree of celestial longitude, an
area which the Sun transits on average between October 23
and November 22 each year. Individuals born during these
dates may be called Scorpios.
Scorpius (or Scorpio) is one of the 12 constellations of the
zodiac. Its name is Latin for scorpion, and its symbol is
It lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. It
is a large constellation located in the southern hemisphere
near the centre of the Milky Way. Scorpius contains many
bright stars, including Antares a, Graffias ß, Dschubba δ,
Sargas θ, Shaula λ, Jabbah ν, Girtab ξ, Iclil π, Alniyat σ and
Lesath υ. Antares happens to lie near the ecliptic and the
super-giant with its reddish appearance is often confused
with the planet Mars. Antares means the rival of Mars.
Along with Aldebaran, Spica, and Regulus it is one of the
four brightest stars near the ecliptic. The bright stars of
Scorpio form a pattern like a baling hook. Maori mythology
sees it as a fishing hook.
Most of the bright stars are massive members of the nearest
OB association Scorpius-Centaurus, some 400 light years
from the Sun. These associations are believed to form within a
small volume inside a giant molecular cloud. Once the
surrounding dust and gas is blown away the remaining stars
become unbound and begin to drift apart. It is believed that the
majority of all stars in the Milky Way were formed in OB
associations. ?O” class stars are short-lived, and will expire as
supernovae after roughly a million years. As a result, OB
associations are generally only a few million years in age or less.
They will burn all their fuel within 10 million years.
(Compare this to the current age of the Sun at about 5 billion
years.) Remember, we talked earlier about the system of
classifying the stars by their intrinsic temperature (colour) using
the letters O, B, A, F, G, K, M and N, where O stars are the
hottest (Blue Giants) and the coolest the N class (Red Dwarfs).
A useful mnemonics for remembering these spectral type letters
is "Oh Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me Now". This, by the way, is not
necessarily the colour we see them, as obscuring dust can often
affect the colour seen.
The star delta Sco, after having been a stable 2.3 magnitude star
for centuries, flared in July 2000 to 1.9 in a matter of weeks. It
has since become a variable star, fluctuating between 2.0 and
1.6. This means that at its brightest it is the second brightest star
in Scorpius. Lambda Sco and upsilon Sco, two stars at the end
of the scorpion's tail that appear very close together, are
Scorpius as depicted in Urania's Mirror, a set of
constellation cards published in London c.1825
sometimes referred to as the Cat's Eyes. The ancient Greek version of Scorpius was much larger than the
constellation we know today. The Greek scorpion was in two halves: one half contained its body and sting,
while the front half comprised the claws. The Greeks called this front half Chelae, which means ‘claws’. In the
first century BC the Romans made the claws into a separate constellation, Libra, the Balance. The
Babylonians called this constellation 'the creature with a burning sting' and saw the claws already as the Scales.
Due to its location on the Milky Way, this constellation contains many deep-sky objects such as the open
clusters Messier 6 (the Butterfly Cluster) and Messier 7 (the Ptolemy Cluster), NGC 6231 and the globular
clusters Messier 4 and Messier 80. Messier 80 (NGC 6093) is a globular cluster of magnitude 7.3, 33,000

light-years from Earth. It is a
compact Shapley class II cluster;
the classification indicates that it
is highly concentrated and dense
at its nucleus. M80 was
discovered in 1781 by Charles
Messier. It was the site of a rare
discovery in 1860 when Arthur
von Auwers discovered the nova
T Scorpii. It had not been since.
Recently, astronomers studying
stellar populations in M80 in the
ultraviolet, using the HST, were
able to identify most of the
known x-ray sources in the core
of the cluster. While the main
point of their investigation was to study the populations of Blue Straggler Stars, one of these sources happened
to be a dwarf nova in outburst at the time of the observations. More interesting than that, it appears to be
consistent with the location of the 1860 nova, T Scorpii. Given its position, X-ray and UV brightness and
variability, this source is almost certainly the true counterpart to T Sco. After 150 years an old friend was
finally found again.
In Greek Mythology the myths associated with
Scorpio almost invariably also contain a reference to
Orion. According to one of these myths it is written
that Orion boasted to goddess Artemis and her
mother, Leto, that he would kill every animal on the
earth. Although Artemis was known to be a hunter
herself she offered protection to all creatures.
Artemis and her mother Leto sent a scorpion to deal
with Orion. The pair battled and the scorpion killed
Orion. However, the contest was apparently a lively
one that caught the attention of Zeus, who then raised
the scorpion to heaven and afterwards, at the request
of Artemis, did the same for Orion to serve as a
reminder for mortals to curb their excessive pride. So
every winter Orion hunts in the sky, but every
summer he flees as the constellation of the scorpion
rises.
In another Greek story involving Scorpio without
Orion, Phaeton (the mortal male offspring of Helios)
went to his father, who had earlier sworn by the River
Styx to give Phaeton anything he should ask for.
Phaeton wanted to drive his father's Sun Chariot for a day.
Although Helios tried to dissuade his son, Phaeton was
adamant. However, when the day arrived, Phaeton panicked
and lost control of the white horses that drew the chariot.
First, the Earth grew chill as Phaeton flew too high and there
encountered the celestial scorpion, its deadly sting raised to
strike. Alarmed, he dipped the chariot too close to the Earth,
causing the vegetation to burn. By accident, Phaeton turned
most of Africa into desert and darkened the skin of the
Ethiopian nation until it was black. Eventually, Zeus was
forced to intervene by striking the runaway chariot and
Phaeton with a lightning bolt to put an end to its rampage and
Phaeton plunged into the River Eridanos. AK
Scorpius from the Uranographia of Johann Bode (1801). Part of the
scorpion’s body is overlapped by the foot of Ophiuchus. In the
middle of the scorpion’s body lies the red star Antares. On this chart,
Bode also gives Antares the alternative name Calbalacrab, from the
Arabic meaning ‘scorpion’s heart’