How to find Scorpius
When to look
June, July, August evenings
Face south, low
A long curving line of stars like a fishhook, low in the south, with a bright red star, Antares, near its top. Summer evenings, June to August, low in the south. From the northern states its tail barely clears the horizon. The drawing below is made from the real positions of its 13 stars, as the sky looks when you face it, with bigger dots for brighter stars. No telescope needed.
Scorpius is a long hook of stars, low in the south in summer. A bright red star called Antares is near the top.
Scorpius is one of the few constellations that really looks like its name: a curved line of stars ending in a hooked tail. Antares, its bright heart, is reddish. From the southern states the whole hook is easy; from the north the tail hides near the ground.
Antares is a red supergiant, hundreds of times wider than the Sun; its name means rival of Mars, for its colour. Scorpius lies in the thickest part of the Milky Way, toward the center of our galaxy, so its sky is crowded with star clusters.
The stars in it
Acrab, Dschubba, Pi, Sigma, Antares, Tau, Epsilon, Mu, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Kappa, Shaula. The brightest is Antares.
How to find it
- Go out after dark with a grown-up, and give your eyes ten minutes away from screens.
- Face south, low and look for: a long curving line of stars like a fishhook, low in the south, with a bright red star, Antares, near its top.
- Hold up this page's drawing or the printed card and match the shape to the sky. If the sky is clear.
More star patterns
“Star patterns turn through the night, so the shape may be tipped on its side. Turn your head, not the sky.”