dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (07/26/85)
The reddish star near the moon Friday and Saturday is Antares, the heart of the scorpion. More -- when we come back. July 26 The Scorpion July is the best month to see a distinctive summer constellation -- Scorpius -- the heavenly scorpion that really looks like its name. You'll have a chance to get acquainted with this constellation both Friday and Saturday night -- since the moon will be visible near the brightest star in Scorpius -- a red star called Antares. Friday night the moon will be between Antares and another bright object -- really the planet Saturn. On Friday, Saturn will be west of the moon -- Antares will be to the east. Saturday night, the moon will have moved eastward -- to be east of Antares -- leaving Saturn behind. Antares is the heart of the constellation Scorpius. The rest of the constellation extends down toward the southern horizon -- it's really curved, like a scorpion's tail. The constellation Scorpius is easiest to see from southerly latitudes -- and best from the southern hemisphere, where it dominates the sky overhead. In a legend that comes from New Zealand, this constellation is considered to be a magic fishhook. It was given to a young fisherman by a goddess of the underworld. He took it and rowed far out to sea, in hopes of catching a very large fish. Instead, when he pulled his magic fishhook up from beneath the waves, he found that he'd caught an entire island complete with houses and people! According to this legend, this is how the island of New Zealand was formed. Afterwards, the young man threw the magic fishhook into the sky -- where we see it today as the constellation Scorpius. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin