constellation Scorpio is one of the most interesting star clusters of the night sky.And though it is by and large a southern constellation, however, it can be observed in some southern and central regions of Russia.Best of all, it will be seen in late spring day in early summer.
Heart of the Scorpion.Rival of Mars
This is probably the main component, due to which you should pay attention to the constellation.Antares - star, located right where the heart of the Scorpion should be located.In addition, she is the most prominent body of all the constellations, why it looks like a decoration.People in ancient times turned their eyes to the star.About how the ancient Romans, it appeared, had its name suggests.Antares has bright red light in our night sky competes in this regard with other celestial body having a blood-red color, Mars.Last ancient Romans called Ares, identifying it with the war.Light in the constellation Scorpius seemed to them the main enemy of Ares, why, and got its name - Anti-Ares - Antares.That is, literally, a rival of Mars.By the way, the star Antares attracted particular interest not only to the inhabitants of ancient Europe.It is known that some of the ceremonies of ancient Egypt were based on the orientation of the star.In ancient Persia Antares was considered one of the four royal stars of night.Identification directly from the heart of the Scorpion came from medieval Arabs.In medieval Europe, Antares was considered a fallen angel and one of the guards the gate of heaven.
Astronomical characteristics
bright red color is due to the fact that star Antares is classified as red supergiants class M. She at times greater than the other well-known supergiant - Betelgeuse.Its size is even hard to imagine.The star Antares in more than eight times greater than our Sun in diameter.If she suddenly appeared in its place, in the center of our solar system, its outer edge would be located between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter, and the Earth would be absorbed by the body of the star.It is interesting that the mass of Antares is about fifteen times more than the sun.All this gives it a luminosity, which is about ten thousand times brighter than the sun.Because of this, even at a distance of seven hundred light years from the planet Earth, the star Antares continues to be one of the brightest stars of our night sky.Interestingly, the red giants and supergiants - the stars that are in the twilight of his life.Once the red giant - about five billion years - will be our sun.Antares - a star whose picture with irrepressible curiosity and looking at astronomers and astrophysicists around the world, is one of the first in line for a supernova - a colossal cosmic explosion that ends the life of stars.Maybe it will happen in the next million years.Maybe it has already happened, and the light of a supernova explosion already rushing to our planet, intending to illuminate the earthly night.
