Libra, Scorpius, Antares in the South: Photos

Last night, well after sunset, I went out with my camera to find Scorpio conveniently hanging in a dip in the horizon.  The best photo from the set shows not only Scorpio but parts of Libra and Ophiucus, and almost looks like a daytime shot:

Scorpius - click photos to enlarge

I was pretty impressed to see so many stars in the picture which I could not see with the naked eye, such as Sabik and others from Ophiucus and Zubeneschamali and others from Libra poking out of the clouds.  Scorpius's stars, including the 15th brightest of all, Antares; as well as Alniyat, Acrab, Dschubba, and a host of others, appear very sharp and brilliant in the sky, which the camera rendered blue after 8 seconds of exposure.

Antares is distinctly brighter than the other stars in Scorpius, however, the following clip from a picture I took later showing "the claw of Scorpio" better reveals the relative brightness and colors of Antares and the other stars.  The star and constellation were mythologically and astrologically associated with Mars because of the similar red coloring of Mars and Antares:

Claw of Scorpio

The claw of Scorpio will continue to dominate the Southern sky after sunset in the Northern Hemisphere for several more weeks, before it goes into hiding under the horizon for the winter.

Saturn *Almost Eclipses Porrima

Last night was a miss because of weather.  Tonight I'll be heading out a little bit after sunset at 10:15pm, to see Saturn eclipsing Porrima of Virgo in the Southwest sky, forming a super-bright point of light.  West of there, Leo will be chasing the place of the sunset.

Weather permitting, I will then at midnight ride out to a nearby hill with a good view where the Southern skyline is relatively low.  The claw of Scorpius, made up of Antares, a flickering burning orange star and its 3 accompanying stars, reaches up into the Southern sky and is one of the most distinguishable groups of stars in the Summer here.  However, this far North in the world, the lower half of the constellation usually never breaks the horizon.  I hope that the weather will be clear and that my vantage point will be good enough so that I can at least see the Scorpion’s tail, Shaula, which is the 25^th brightest star and which I’ve never seen.  Nearby will be Kaus Australis of Sagittarius, also which I’ve never seen and never rises very high here.  We’ll have to wait and see if weather and the landscape permit a good show!