dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (11/02/84)
As the celestial scorpion disappears below the horizon, the hunter Orion returns. More -- right after this. October 27 Orion and the Scorpion In the evening sky on Saturday, just after sunset, you can see two bright objects just below the crescent moon in the western sky. One is a planet, Venus -- and the other is a star -- the heart of the celestial scorpion -- a red star named Antares. And by the way, so you can tell them apart, the planet Venus is brighter than the star. As the days pass, Antares will disappear into the sun's glare for another season. With it goes the rest of the constellation Scorpius, a distinctive star pattern that rides high in our summer sky. Scorpius never appears in the sky at the same time as the constellation Orion, who is a mighty hunter in mythology. Instead, the two are said to be sworn enemies -- since the scorpion brought about the death of Orion. The story goes that Orion boasted that he was such a great hunter he could kill all the animals on the surface of the Earth. The goddess of Earth was alarmed at this statement. She thought that the world would be sad and lonely without its many kinds of animals. So she sent a giant scorpion to sting and kill Orion -- and after a brief battle, the scorpion did just that. Afterwards the two were placed in the sky -- but in such a way that they would never meet. Now, as Scorpius disappears in the west each autumn, we know to expect the constellation Orion to reappear in the evening sky. So he will -- in about a month. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1983, 1984 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin