Scorpius, The Scorpion-
The tail with it's stinger on the lower left and the claw in the upper right, Scorpius is a rather large constellation taking up a good chuck of the Southern horizon. Find the scorpion after sunset directly in the South. Get to an area where trees and buildings won't interfere with the view of this colossal site. Scorpius has several star clusters for your viewing pleasure. Antares a Red Giant star, is easily seen with it's reddish color. The star is also a pulsating variable, meaning, it changes in brightness over a period of about 4.5 years. Antares also has a blue/white companion star. M4 is a globular cluster of stars. With a 4 inch reflector you can make out individual stars. M80 is a small globular cluster, as well as M62 and M19. M6 or the Butterfly Cluster resembles a butterfly. Get out your scope or binoculars and enjoy Scorpius.
This Week in Space History-
1964- NASA successfully tests an Atlas-Centaur in a sub orbital flight.
1972: The U.S.S.R. successfully launches an unmanned Soyuz spacecraft designated Cosmos 496.
1978: Soyuz 30, with cosmonaut Viktor Klimuk and Polish cosmonaut- Miroslaw Hermaszewski aboard, is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the Salyut 6 space station.
1983: Soyuz T-9, with cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakov and Alexandr Alexandrov on board, is launched from Baikonur to the Salyut 7 space station.
