Ophiuchus
Published on Sep 14, 2007 at 2:35 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under constellations.
Yesterday, I wrote about Jupiter and how it appears moves through the sky. In that posting, I said that Jupiter appeared to be in Scorpius. That is how it appears, at least to me. I see the stars that make up Scorpius, and Jupiter is right near them. However, astronomically speaking, that that is technically incorrect. In modern astronomy, constellations are not patterns in the sky, but rather regions of the sky. In about 1930, the International Astronomical Union defined 88 official constellations and the official borders for these constellations. In the diagram below, I show Scorpius and its borders. You can see that Jupiter, though near Scorpius, actually falls within the boundaries of nearby Ophiuchus. I’ve marked with red lines the traditional patterns that are often shown for these constellations, and you can see that Jupiter falls far closer to the Scorpius pattern of stars than to the Ophiuchus pattern of stars. So, when I go out and look at Jupiter in the sky, I’d tell people that it looks to be in Scorpius, just above the star Antares. But, of course, I know otherwise. It is really within the region of the sky defined as Ophiuchus. (Oh, and the classic parttern of Ophiuchus even has lines that run through constellations neighboring Ophiuchus!)
Ophiuchus was formally sometimes called Ophiuchus vel Serpentarius, or sometimes just Serpentarius (the serpent holder). Ophiuchus sits between two parts of the constellation Serpens, with Serpens Caput (the serpent’s head) to the west of Ophiuchus and Serpens Cauda (the serpent’s tail) to the east of Ophiuchus.Â
The constellation Ophiuchus is associated with several myths from antiquity. One legend is that Ophiuchus represents the healer Asclepius, who learned the art of healing by observing one serpent bringing another a healing herb.  The constellation Ophiuchus is near that of Sagittarius (a centaur with drawn bow and arrow), presumably signifying Chiron, Asclepius’ mentor.Â
Another story that I like much better is that Ophiuchus is a physician who distilled venom from a snake to produce a medicine that counteracted a poisonous scorpion’s sting on the heal of Orion. This saved Orion’s life.  So, Orion and Scorpius are on opposite sides of the sky, never in the sky at the same time. And, of course, Ophiuchus is depicted over Scorpius, crushing the scorpion under his feet.Â
-AstroprofÂ
Diagram produced using Starry Night Pro
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A Ler…-- Rastos de Luz on September 17, 2007 at 7:50 am: 1
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