Kid's Astronomy: A Summer's Lure – Scorpio
Written by Tammy Plotner
Howdy, kids! Over the last couple of months we've visited with a multitude of wonderful sky characters. We've located the Triangle, met the Dragon, visited in the Royal House, met a King and Queen and their children, a celestial Farmer and his grandchildren, and we've even been to starry river of the Milky Way to see one of summer's favorite passtimes… Grandpa angling along the night sky. If you don't believe he's there, then sit back and listen to the voices on the wind as Sky Wizard Kim tells you where to look to find the "lures" of summer…
"It was by the water's edge, where I left you, with the Fisher King – Ophiucus. At his feet, is a faint constellation, called Libra. It can be found under the fisherman's net, consisting of around six stars, posing as, a mostly empty, open tackle box. Libra is also known, as the scales, being most appropriate for a king fisherman. Many highlights are spread across the feet of the fisher king, located in the constellation of Scorpio. Fishermen often use the scorpion as bait, as they are easy to find, hide in the day and are active at night.
Scorpions stay close to water and feed on bugs and small insects. You can find M6 and M7 – like dancing butterflies – close to the "Bug Nebula" in Scorpio. You can also find the fisherman's lucky lures; M80 containing many blue stragglers and M4 as it stands out in a way that compels attention. Both are very close to the distinct red and royal star, Antares, sometimes called the heart of the Scorpion. When the planet Mars is close by, it makes a fine rival!
From Antares, you can trace a line of nine bright stars, in the tail of the Scorpion forming an asterism known as the ancient fish-hook. No fishing trip would be complete without catching a glimpse of the stars, Shaula and Lesath, as they stare out from the end of Scorpion's tail, like the eye's of a cat, sitting there, just waiting on scraps."
The Moon is now waxing and moving gradually east each night. It won't be long until it passes through Scorpius and near Antares on a very special date – July 4th! For some lucky kids somewhere, this could mean an occultation event… a time when the Moon will "cover up" the bright red star as they pass each other in the night. For others, the pair will only be close, but what a treat to point out your new "star smarts" to others while you're out watching fireworks!
Many thanks go to Sky Wizard Kim Balliett for sharing her story with us and to these folks for their awesome images: Scorpius Map courtesy of Windows On The Universe, Historical Scorpius Image from Hevelius Maps, M6 image courtesy of N.A.Sharp, Mark Hanna, REU program/NOAO/AURA/NSF, Moonlight, Mars and the Milky Way courtesy of Barney Magrath, NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day. We thank you so much!
Filed under: Astronomy For Kids
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