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Glossary term: 天蝎座

Description: 天蝎座是黄道带上的13个星座之一。组成这个星座的恒星位于与黄道(由地球绕太阳运行的轨迹所确定的平面)相交的那部分天空。事实上,黄道带上的所有星座都与黄道相交。从地球上看,我们会发现太阳和太阳系的其他行星经常落在天蝎座中。天蝎座是国际天文学联合会承认的88个星座之一,也是托勒密最初确定的48个星座之一。早在托勒密之前一千多年,苏美尔人就已经确定了天蝎座。在其他文化中,天蝎座有着不同的名称:在毛利和波利尼西亚文化中,天蝎座被称为毛伊的钩子;而澳大利亚土著群体,如阿纳姆地区的约尔努人,则将天蝎座视为鳄鱼和蝎子。天蝎座最亮的恒星是大火星(又称心宿二、天蝎座α),它是一颗红巨星,距离地球约550光年。

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Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval

The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".

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Over trees with thick trunks, the Milky Way, with several bright objects left and right, is bisected by a wide dark line.

Milky Way over Avenue of Baobabs

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image, taken from the Avenue of Baobabs, Morondava, Madagascar, in July 2017, shows the majestic band of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, together with a rich collection of constellations and asterisms: Crux, Centaurus, Scorpius, Sagittarius and the Teapot asterism. Towards the bottom left of the image we can see the Southern Cross and the pointer stars Alpha (the brighter of the two) and Beta Centauri, which help to distinguish it from similar-looking configurations. Some cultures in Africa associate the Southern Cross with a giraffe, while others associate the constellations with a pride of lions or even with the Tree of Life. Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, is the orange-red star straight up from the middle baobab tree. To the Pokomo people from southwestern Kenya, Africa, the Milky Way is associated with the smoke emanating from a campfire lit by ancient people. The various people in South Africa, in contrast, have different star tales; the Khoikhoi from the region around Cape Town explained the colours of the red and white stars as red and white roots that were roasted on a fire and thrown towards the sky together with the ashes of the fire. The Xhosa from further east consider the Milky Way the raised bristle of a huge angry dog, while the Zulu from near Johannesburg interpret it as a stream of spears of their strongest warriors. Polynesian people, who were adept seafarers and navigators, see the constellation Scorpius as a fish hook, and refer to it as the demigod Maui’s Fish Hook. For the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali people, the Southern Cross is part of a Dreamtime Story involving Tchingal, the Bram-bram-bult brothers (the pointer stars), their mother Druk (Delta Crux), and Bunya, the hunter who gets changed into a possum (Gacrux, red star at the top of the Southern Cross). In this image, the planets Saturn (the bright point above Antares) and Jupiter (the bright point at the bottom-right of the image close to the trunk of the baobab tree) are visible. Indigenous cultures have various stories associated with the planets, for example Kamilaroi and Wailan people associate Saturn with wunygal, a small bird. The Boorong people of Western Victoria associate Jupiter with Ginabongbearp, the chief of the old spirits (Nurrumbunguttias), who takes the totemic form of the sulphur-crested white cockatoo.
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

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The Milky Way looms over a bridge on a steep coastline. To the upper right is the bright, deep red star Antares

Drive

Caption: Honourable mention in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image shows the Milky Way crossing the sky above the historical Bixby Bridge in Big Sur, a mountainous region in California, USA, in May 2021. The star directly above the shore is Antares, a red supergiant in the heart of the Scorpion. To its left, the clouds of the Milky Way seem to emerge from the same point of the horizon as the rocky landmass. Above the land, below the Milky Way in the left quarter of the image, is another bright star, Altair, the bright star in Aquila, the Eagle. The scorpion is considered a dangerous animal, so scorpion-men (human-scorpion hybrids) guarded the gate to the Netherworld in ancient Babylonian stories, as reported in the Gilgamesh saga. The Eagle, in contrast, appears in the Babylonian saga of King Etana who was taken to the sky by an Eagle and describes the world that he sees below him with increasing distance. Both heroes, Gilgamesh and Etana, are searching for the “herb of life” but one of them by going down, the other by travelling upwards. Gilgamesh aims to get back his dead friend Enkidu and to become immortal himself, while Etana is seeking the herb to help his wife become pregnant. The scorpion and the eagle are the animals supporting these heroes in their search, that ultimately remained unsuccessful. Gilgamesh finally learned that humans can only become immortal by their good deeds for humanity. The Eagle was also recognised in Greek culture, but it was only in Roman times that it became a messenger of a dead soul, carrying it towards the eternal stars. This was when Ptolemy created a constellation to represent the soul of Antinuous below the classical Eagle. This young friend and consultant of the Roman emperor Hadrian drowned in the Nile only seven years before the completion of the Almagest, and the whole Roman empire observed a state of national mourning. The Milky Way is seen as a “pathway of souls” by many cultures, but in the Babylonian culture, this is not the case. Still, in Greco-Roman philosophy, the bright white parts of it between Antares and Altair, at the intersection of the Milky Way and the Zodiac do have a meaning: Plato, Macrobius and other philosophers refer to it as “the X in the sky”, and the second Celestial Gate was probably considered to be here (the first one being the gate formed by the Hyades and Pleiades). These celestial pathways and gates, depicted above a gigantic bridge in the landscape and a site where the realms of land and ocean meet, make for an incredibly charged photograph. Additionally, the dark clouds in the Milky Way directly above the land form one of the two large dark constellations of the crocodiles, as interpreted by some people in southern Australia.
Credit: Marcin Zajac/IAU OAE

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非洲草原上方的银河拱门。银河的弥散光被一串暗斑打断。

安波塞利国家公园上空的银河拱门

Caption: 2022年国际天文学联合会(IAU)OAE天文摄影比赛静态天体图案类别获奖作品。 这张照片2016年7月拍摄于肯尼亚安博塞利国家公园,该公园位于赤道附近。 在北非的埃及神话中,银河被看作神灵所航行的河流。南非的祖鲁人将这种由明暗星云组成的图案解释为一种皮肤黑白相间的动物,而南非的科伊科伊人和桑人则认为它是“星路”。在南非的一些文化中,银河的拱门是一位母神创造的通往天堂的道路——这是19世纪的早期人类学研究所采纳的一个南非创世神话,但这一神话如今已经消失。 在照片的右中部,我们可以看到现代天蝎座中明亮的红色恒星心宿二。照片左上角边缘是白色的织女星,开普敦附近的人认为它是雄性的骏马。 澳大利亚原住民对银河有很多称呼。澳大利亚北领地阿纳姆地区的约尔努(Yolnu)人称呼银河为“Milnguya”,意为“天河”。这张照片中的一个突出图案与银河的明暗区域对比有关。 这些暗区是由星际尘埃和气体组成的低温致密云团,阻挡了其背后恒星发出的光线。其中一个突出的图案被澳大利亚南部几个土著民族称为“Tchingal”,意为“天上的鸸鹋”。鸸鹋的头部和嘴部(即煤袋星云)位于南十字座(照片右下角)的左下方,身体和腿部则从南十字座向左延伸。其他原住民群体则将暗区与洞穴或水道联系在一起。鸸鹋一年四季的朝向提供了重要的线索,表明什么时候应该采集鸸鹋蛋,什么时候鸸鹋蛋开始孵化。在某些月份,当这些银河暗云靠近地平线时,人们则认为它们不是鸸鹋,而是两条匍匐前进的鳄鱼。 在银河系中心的上方,可以清楚地看到黑暗的烟斗星云的现代形象。银河上方那颗橙红色的恒星是天蝎座的心宿二,而烟斗的烟雾可以到达心宿二旁边色彩斑斓的蛇夫座ρ区域。波隆人把心宿二称为“Djuit”,意为“红腰鹦鹉”;而西部沙漠的科卡塔人则把心宿二称为“Kogolongo”,意为“红尾黑凤头鹦鹉”。 此外,照片中还可以看到一些著名的星座:天鹅座、天鹰座、天琴座、天蝎座、人马座、南十字座和半人马座。在南非的一些传统中,指针星——半人马座α星(南门二)和β星(马腹一)偶尔被视为野兽的眼睛。
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

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一幅全天空图像展示的银河,犹如一条漫无边际的光河,只有中央一条斑驳的暗斑带将其打破。

横贯天顶的银河

Caption: 2022年国际天文学联合会(IAU)OAE天文摄影比赛静态天体图案类别获奖作品。 这幅全天图像展示的是2019年5月在日本长野看到的银河系越过天顶的景象。这种全天空图像可以用鱼眼镜头拍摄,也可以用地面上的凸面镜拍摄,后者也可以显示出拍摄者。 在这幅图像中可以看到夜空中最亮的几颗恒星,以及太阳系中的两颗巨行星——木星和土星。木星是本图底部最亮的一点,而土星则是银河系另一侧的另一个亮点,位于底部,紧挨着地平线。 在银河的正右方、木星的下方,我们可以看到一颗明亮的红色恒星——心宿二,它是日本星宿“心宿”的主星。日本星宿源于中国古代的星宿,只做了很小的改动,甚至没有改动。在这一传统中,“心宿”是“四象”之一“苍龙”的心脏,代表着春天。在巴比伦和希腊罗马的传统中,这个区域被认为是天蝎的心脏。在巴比伦宗教中,这颗星与母神的孩子李斯有关,但在希腊神话中,由于它的颜色,它与火星有关。红色也使这颗恒星在中国被称为“大火星”。我们知道,这种颜色是由它相对较低的温度造成的。 从心宿二向右移动,我们会看到天空中更靠北的部分。图像右下方靠近地平线的亮星是位于现代的牧夫座的大角星。心宿二及其周围天区被认为是苍龙的心脏,而大角星和角宿一(位于地平线之下)则是两个仅含有单星的星群,构成了苍龙的巨角。在图像右侧的地平线边缘,从上方向它指去的,是北斗七星的柄,它是大熊座的一部分。 银河右侧、图像中间上方的亮点是织女星,位于现代的天琴座。向银河的另一侧连一条线,在图像的下方一点,我们可以看到牛郎星,位于天鹰座。从那里我们可以再将一条线连到天鹅座最亮的恒星——牛郎星,这颗星在图像中的位置也稍高一些,完全被银河淹没了。这三颗明亮的恒星组成了北半球被称为“夏季大三角”的星群。
Credit: Ohnishi Kouji/IAU OAE

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A starry sky over a cloudy landscape. On the left the bright red star Antares sits at the top of a hook-shaped star pattern

Sky Over the Town of Nindirí, in Masaya, Nicaragua

Caption: Honourable mention in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image was taken in Tisma, Nicaragua, in April 2022 during a night illuminated by the Moon. Still, some constellations are visible, but the Milky Way, which runs through the image with some of its brightest regions, hides in the celestial background, partially obscured by terrestrial clouds. The Scorpion, one of the constellations of the Zodiac, is seen on the left side. We can first spot the brightest star, Antares, in the middle of a group of three in an asterism that looks like the stem of a flower growing from the clouds upwards. Its petals are the head of the scorpion. In the brightness of moonlight, the orange colour of Antares is not clearly visible. The three stars that comprise the head of the scorpion are called Acrab, Dschubba and Fang. They were recently named by the IAU in order to show the global diversity of constellations. Acrab is the Arabic term for the scorpion and Fang (The Room) is the name of the Chinese constellation made out of these stars. The Scorpion’s tail extends to the bottom of the image with the sting just above the horizon in the gap between clouds. The constellation Centaurus is visible in the middle of this image. We can first recognise Crux and the two pointer stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri right above the clouds. The pointers are the front hooves of the centaur, while the stars of Crux were originally (before Christanity, in antiquity) considered one of the rear legs of the centaur. The stars in the front hooves are Rigil Kentaurus (mixed Arabic and Latin meaning The Foot of the Centaur), to the left, and Hadar, to the right. With Crux at the rear they comprise the legs of the mythological creature’s horse body. The humanoid torso is represented by two bright stars on the shoulders and three fainter stars for the head. The star tale says that this figure represents Chiron, the only decent one among the centaurs who was well educated and the teacher of all great heroes. The Christian navigators who sailed to the New World around 1500 used these asterisms, although they had never seen them before in Europe. These included explorer Amerigo Vespucci whose name was given to the continent America. His shipmate Andrea Corsali, who came from Florence, where the poet Dante Alighieri was famous for his Divine Comedy written two centuries earlier, was reminded of Dante's poem by the four bright stars of Crux. It was probably in this context that they happened to invent the constellation Crux. Originally, the navigators only used the asterism for practical purposes but some time later, in the period of Christian religious wars between several new churches, celestial cartographers used the cross as a symbol of unity and against war.
Credit: René Antonio Urroz Álvarez/IAU OAE

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Several observatory domes on a mountain top with the arching Milky Way behind.

Teide Observatory

Caption: Honourable mention in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   Taken in May 2022 in Teide National Park in Tenerife, Spain, this image shows the arc of the Milky Way galaxy crossing the sky, accompanied by prominent constellations over the professional telescopes located on the mountains of that island. While the telescopes and the people working with them may  ignore the constellations, the photographer managed to catch the Milky Way in such a way that it almost matches the shape of the mountain. The bright star in the top-left side of the image is Vega, one of the brightest stars in the night sky and located in the small constellation Lyra. Being a white star, it is the standard star astrophysicists use to define the colour scale. As it is also a relatively close star, only about 25 light-years away, with a relatively simple name, it frequently appears in modern science fiction, for example in Carl Sagan’s famous novel “Contact”, which was filmed in 1997 with Jodie Foster starring as a radio astronomer. The bright star seen below the galaxy and on the left half of the image is Altair, also one of the brightest stars in the night sky and located in the constellation Aquila. Together with Deneb — a star in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) that is not visible in this image — Altair and Vega form the Summer Triangle, a characteristic asterism of popular astronomy in the northern hemisphere, where these telescopes are located. On the right side of the image we can see the constellation Scorpius. This is easily identified by its brightest star, Antares, the reddish star in the Scorpion’s heart. Below it, the whole body and tail of the Scorpion can be found and above it the celestial Scorpion's head is represented by three bright bluish stars. Below the tail and above the horizon, the constellation of Ara, the Altar, is half-visible, but like all the stars of Sagittarius in the Milky Way and the much fainter ones in Hercules and Ophiuchus above it, these constellations are more difficult to pinpoint in this photograph full of stars. The head of Ophiuchus is the relatively bright star in the middle between Vega and Antares. In addition to the huge size of this constellation, it is also important because it is the thirteenth one of the Zodiac, and the Sun spends roughly three weeks in Ophiuchus, after only five days in Scorpius. Furthermore, Ophiuchus represents the model for the mythological best doctor in the world, called Asklepios in Greek mythology, and Aesculab in Latin. His constellation praises all people working in medical professions, including nurses, pharmacists and doctors.
Credit: Curd-Christian Tengeler/IAU OAE

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The Milky Way over a cloudy landscape. A triangle of bright objects is visible on the left of the image.

Equatorial Milky Way

Caption: Honourable mention in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns: Equatorial Milky Way   Taken in Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park, Java Island, Indonesia, in March 2016, this image captures regions of the southern Milky Way and, at its left edge, the two planets Mars and Saturn. Mars appears orange and is similar in colour to the star Antares, whose Greek name — anti Ares — references this. Saturn is a little bit fainter than Mars, but clearly visible among the stars of Ophiuchus, above the Pipe Nebula and forming an isosceles triangle with Mars and Antares. Mars is on the top and Saturn is vertically below. Visible to the naked eye, both planets have significance in many cultures around the world. In Roman mythology Mars is the god of war and fertility, and Saturn the god of sowing and agriculture. Its Greek equivalent, the god Kronos, is also considered the regent of completion. Indigenous Australians, including the Kamilaroi and Wailan people, associate Saturn with “wunygal”, a small bird. Mars is called Iherm-penh (something burnt in flames) by the Anmatyerre people of the Central Desert, while the Kokatha people of the Western Desert associate Mars and the star Anatres with the red-tailed black cockatoo (Kogolongo). In the middle of this photograph, the most famous southern constellations are clearly recognisable: the Southern Cross (Crux), the pointer stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri, the dark Coalsack Nebula and the red Eta Carina Nebula, which is not visible to the unaided eye but is prominent in modern photographs. In the 19th century, the star eta Carinae had been the second-brightest star in the sky for some time, but since it varies irregularly, it has hardly been recognisable in recent decades, and its future visibility is unpredictable. Triangulum Australe is visible between the pointer stars and the Scorpion, and in the constellation of Centaurus, the bright globular star cluster Omega Centauri is clearly displayed. It was considered a “nebulous star” since antiquity and, thus, was listed in star catalogues for at least 2000 years. Only within the last century did astronomers discover that globular star clusters are in the halo of our galaxy and that this one consists of roughly 10 million stars. The dark regions in the Milky Way, which are cool, dense clouds of dust and gas, form the head and body of the Celestial Emu Tchingal. Together with the Southern Cross and the pointer stars, they appear in the Dreamtime stories of many Indigenous Australians. One story associated with the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali people is part of a Dreamtime Story involving Tchingal, the Bram-bram-bult brothers (the pointer stars), their mother Druk (Delta Crux), and Bunya the hunter, who gets transformed into a possum (Gacrux, the red star at the top of the Southern Cross).
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE

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The bright Moon illuminates a beach. Three bright planets form a line below and to the right of the Moon.

To guard the Stars and the Sea Together

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns. This image composition is amazing. In the far background of the landscape we see a chain of mountains that seems to mirror the structure of the Milky Way in the sky above. The strong daylight-like colours of the landscape are caused by the Moon, the bright light at the top of the image. Taken in Kinabalu, Malaysia, in February 2019, this image shows the alignment of planets and the Moon, conveying the idea of the ecliptic as the central line of the Zodiac, the plane within which all planets orbit the Sun. The ecliptic is the central line of the Zodiac, so the region of about five to 10 degrees either side of the ecliptic is where the constellations of the Zodiac are located. Starting from the horizon towards the bottom left of the image we can see the planets Venus, Saturn and Jupiter. The planets have different cultural significance for people around the world, and are deeply embedded in social, religious and practical aspects of life. For example, Wardaman traditions of Indigenous Australians associate the planets with ancestor spirits who traverse the Celestial Road (ecliptic). The appearance and disappearance of planets in the sky are associated with various ceremonies. For example, when Venus starts being the “Morning star” after having been the “Evening star”, this marks the Banumbirr ceremony for the Yolnu people of Arnhem Land, in Australia. The image also shows the constellations Scorpius, Aquila, Lupus and Triangulum Australe, the asterism of the Teapot, and the two pointer stars Alpha and Beta Centauri. The constellations, asterisms and individual stars within them have significance in many different cultures. Malaysia, being close to the equator, has had connections to the north as well as to the south and almost the whole sky is visible over the course of the year. The star Antares is seen by the Kokatha people of the Western Desert as Kogolongo, the red tailed black cockatoo, while the Boorong refer to it as Djuit, the red-rumped parrot. The two stars which form the stinger of Scorpius (Shaula and Lesath), are called Karik Karik, the Australian Kestrel.
Credit: Likai Lin/IAU OAE

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The diffuse glow of the Milky Way broken by dark patches. Right, the red star Antares forms the top of a hook-like pattern

Milky Way Arch over La Palma

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image, which shows the majestic band of the Milky Way and a range of culturally significant patterns, was taken in May 2022 at a very high altitude from the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, from which one can see the clouds below. Some prominent star patterns include Scorpius, Sagittarius, Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, the Summer Triangle asterism, and the Teapot asterism. As the Canary Islands used to be a starting point for European sailors to explore the world, we use this place to point to the many indigenous cultures they encountered. Most notably it is the dark patterns within the band of the Milky Way that hold significance for many Indigenous cultures around the world. The dark patterns are in fact dense, cool clouds of gas and dust that block the light from stars. Indigenous people see caves, waterways and various patterns associated with the dark regions of the Milky Way. The constellations and patterns hold different cultural significance and interpretations for different people. For example, the constellation Scorpius is referred to by Polynesian people as the demigod Maui’s Fishhook. The Yolnu people of Arnhem Land associate Scorpius with a crocodile called Ingalpir. Some Indigenous Australian groups associate stories with individual stars within Scorpius, most notably Antares, the orange-red star in the top right of the image above the band of the Milky Way. Next to the Scorpion and above the bright centre of the Milky Way, there is a prominent dark cloud that is called the Pipe Nebula by modern astrophotographers. The smoke of this pipe goes up to rho Ophiuchi. This and all the other dark clouds in the Milky Way together form the backbone of heaven for some tribes, and an animal with black-and-white skin for South African Zulu people. The nomenclature of bright stars also has cross-cultural roots. For example, Vega (the bright blue star towards the top of the image) comes from the Arabic waqi, from al-nasr al-waqi, the Eagle who throws himself down (in order to hunt). This contrasts with the Flying Eagle, Altair, also derived from Arabic. Antares is a Greek word meaning “the one similar to Mars”, referring to its colour. The star name Shaula in the stinger of the Scorpion is a modern version of the Babylonian or even Sumerian star name.
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

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The Milky Way arches over a mountain-top building. Its diffuse glow is broken by dark patches and is brighter on the right

The Moon and Milky Way arch Above the Golden Hall

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   Taken in April 2021 from the top of the Laojun Mountain in China, this image shows a panoramic view of the Milky Way over the Golden Hall called “Yuhuangding” as a symbol of wealth. In China, the Milky Way is considered a huge stream like one of the big rivers. It separates the Cowherd (Altair) and his beloved Weaving Girl (Vega) and it has a Celestial Ford in the northern dark cloud in the modern constellation Cygnus. The Milky Way appears as a whitish arch as we cannot distinguish all the individual stars, but instead see the accumulation of light from them. It is a disc-shaped galaxy and the Solar System is located within one of its spiral arms, so we see it from inside, which gives it the shape of a band in our sky. It is associated with the religions and mythologies of several cultures. The modern term Milky Way derives from Greek folklore as the milk spread in the sky by the mother goddess Hera, when she unwillingly breastfed young Heracles. This son of Zeus and a mortal woman was put next to her while she was asleep but from his strong sucking she woke up and realised she was feeding an unknown child, and immediately pushed the child away. Greek philosophers like Plato considered the glittering band in the sky to be the traces of a former path of the Sun. Alternatively, for the Tupi-Guarani indigenous mythology from South America, the Milky Way represents the “path of tapir”. For some Australian native peoples, its dark clouds formed the shape of an emu if high in the sky, and of crocodiles if low on the horizon. For many southern African, South American and Australian cultures, it was considered a pathway to or from heaven. At the right edge of the image, we can recognise the modern constellation Scorpius with its most prominent star, Antares, the reddish star just above the Milky Way. The brightest point seen in the centre bottom of the image is the rising Moon with Jupiter next to it. A few constellations can be distinguished in this image, including Corona Australis, a faint arc-shaped constellation located to the bottom right. Just above the Southern Crown, we can see the Teapot asterism as part of the Sagittarius constellation. Since Sagittarius lies next to the centre of the Milky Way, many structures such as star-forming regions, globular clusters and planetary nebulae can be found within its boundaries. In Sagittarius, we also find a supermassive black hole four million times as massive as our Sun. At the left side of the band, we can identify the bright star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus, The Swan, through which the Milky Way runs, meaning that a variety of star clusters are found in this constellation.
Credit: Likai Lin/IAU OAE

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The curve of the Milky Way bisected on the left by a huge dark arch. Below appear two bright, diffuse patches.

The Milky Way Over Anglers Reach

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   The Milky Way and several astronomical objects are seen in this image taken from the southern hemisphere, in Anglers Reach, Australia, in April 2022. On the bottom-left side we can identify the constellation Scorpius with its brightest star, Antares, the reddish spot just above the arc. Some prominent but small southern constellations can also be seen: the dominating bright stars in the middle-left of the image in the Milky Way are the four bright stars of Crux (the Southern Cross) and to its left the two pointer stars, alpha and beta Centauri. Crux points towards the southern celestial pole, which is not marked by a bright star, and The pointer stars point towards Crux, distinguishing it from the asterism of the False Cross in the constellation Argo. Crux features on the national flags of Australia, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and New Zealand. As Crux lies in the brightest parts of the Milky Way, the dark cloud of the famous Coalsack Nebula is prominent next to the bright stars. It forms one of the dark constellations in South American, South African and Australian indigenous cultures. The huge Australian dark constellation of the Emu is almost completely above the horizon in this image, stretching from its head in the Coal Sack to the horizon. In Greek antiquity, the stars of Crux also belonged to the constellation Centaurus, a hybrid creature with a human torso and head attached to a horse body with four legs. The Greek centaur represents Chiron, the wise teacher of all Greek heroes. Its brightest star is Rigil Kentaurus (Alpha Centauri), the front hoof of the centaur. Just below it, we find the small constellation Triangulum Australe. The triple star system of Alpha Centauri is our Sun’s nearest stellar neighbour. Along the Milky Way in the middle-right of the picture we find the huge constellation Argo, the Ship. The smaller ancient constellation Argo was extended by Dutch navigators around 1600, and the number of stars in this constellation was then so big that the 18th-century French mathematician Lacaille needed to introduce subtitles for Argo in his star catalogue. In doing so, he invented the constellations Puppis, Carina and Vela. In Carina, the Keel of the ship, this reddish photograph clearly displays the Carina Nebula. At the right edge of the image we can spot the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, while the second brightest star, Canopus, the rudder of Argo, the Ship, dominates the area under the arch of the Milky Way. Also below the Milky Way arc, we can see the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud, which are small satellite galaxies of our own Galaxy.
Credit: Lucy Yunxi Hu/IAU OAE

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一轮明月倒映在湖水中。弥散在银河中的明暗斑块占据了照片右上方。

湖中的天琴座流星

Caption: 2022年国际天文学联合会(IAU)OAE天文摄影比赛静态天体图案类别获奖作品。 这张照片拍摄于2022年4月24日凌晨,捕捉到了中国云南省的天空及其在念湖中的倒影。左侧可见银河,右侧可见泛白的云层。一颗流星沿着银河划过天空,其尾部指向天琴座流星雨辐射点,该辐射点位于照片上方边缘之外。流星的自然色彩非常清晰,令人印象深刻。 一些星座也清晰可见。在左上角,我们可以看到较小的海豚座,其最亮的五颗恒星组成了一个星群。古希腊海豚座比现代海豚座更大,而这个星群在当时只是海豚座的头部。托勒密将古希腊海豚座的南部独立为小马座,因此自罗马时代起,这个星群就代表整个海豚座了。在古代中国,这个星群分别属于瓠瓜和败瓜两个星官,其中瓠瓜星官是古罗马海豚座顶部较亮的恒星组成的菱形,而败瓜星官则由古罗马海豚座尾部的暗星组成。 位于照片顶部、海豚座右侧的亮星是牛郎星,它是天鹰座中最亮的星。在中国古天文学中,牛郎星和一些邻近恒星一起构成了河鼓星官。然而,在中国民间传说中,这颗明亮的恒星象征着深爱着织女的牛郎,而象征着织女的就是织女星,它位于天琴座,在银河这条辽阔天河的另一侧。在这幅图中看不到织女星,但来自天琴座的这颗流星,好似这位不幸的姑娘因无法触碰到自己的爱人而流下的泪滴。 在照片的右上方,天蝎座中闪耀着一颗明亮的红色恒星——大火星。在中国,它和一些邻近恒星一起构成了二十八星宿之一的心宿。在古代中国,它被视为象征着春天的东方苍龙的心脏。 照片中央的天蝎座和人马座包含着银河最明亮的斑块——银河系的中心。而在亮斑的前方,也有着清晰可见的暗云。 天鹰座和天蝎座之间并没有古希腊、古罗马的经典星座,但是在17世纪,两位波兰天文学家——Jan和Elizabeta Hevelius夫妇,为了纪念一位波兰国王,将充满了银河亮斑的这片天区命名为盾牌座。不过,在中国,正处于天市垣之外的这片天区被视为天弁——管理市场的官员。
Credit: Jianfeng Dai/IAU OAE

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Related Diagrams


Libra appears as a triangle pointing north (up) with two lines hanging down. It is bisected by the ecliptic running ESE-WNW

Libra Constellation Map

Caption: The constellation Libra along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Libra is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Serpens Caput, Virgo, Hydra, Centaurus, Lupus, Scorpius and Ophiuchus. Libra lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Libra from late October to late November. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Libra. Libra lies just south of the celestial equator and is thus visible at some time in all but the most arctic regions. Libra is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere late spring/early summer and southern hemisphere late autumn/early winter. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

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Scorpius appears as a letter T joined to a letter J. The ecliptic runs ESE to WNW and clips one arm of the T

Scorpius Constellation Map

Caption: The constellation Scorpius (often commonly called Scorpio) along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Scorpius is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Ophiuchus, Serpens Caput, Libra, Lupus, Norma, Ara, Corona Australis and Sagittarius. Scorpius’s brightest star Antares appears in the heart of the constellation with the famous tail of Scoprius in the south-east (lower left). Scorpius lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun only spends a short amount of time in late November in Scorpius. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Scorpius. Scorpius lies south of the celestial equator. The whole constellation is not visible from the most arctic regions of the world with parts of Scorpius obscured for observers in northern parts of Asia, Europe and North America. Scorpius is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The yellow circles mark the positions of the open clusters M6, M7 & NGC 6231 while the yellow circles with plus signs superimposed on them mark the globular clusters M4 and M80. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The circle around Antares indicates that it is a variable star. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. The blue line marks the ecliptic, the path the Sun appears to travel across the sky over the course of one year. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

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Sagittarius is shaped like a teapot pouring tea south west. The ecliptic runs WSW to ENE at the top of the constellation

Sagittarius Constellation Map

Caption: The constellation Sagittarius along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Sagittarius is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Aquila, Scutum, Serpens Cauda, Ophiuchus, Scorpius, Corona Australis, Telescopium, Microscopium and Capricornus. The brighter stars in Sagittarius form a distinctive teapot shape. Sagittarius lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Sagittarius from mid December to mid January. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Sagittarius. Sagittarius lies south of the celestial equator. The famous teapot asterism is visible for all but the most arctic regions of the world but the most southerly parts of the constellation are not visible in northern parts of Asia, Europe and North America. Sagittarius is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* which lies at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is sits on the western (here right-hand) edge of Sagittarius. Due to it covering an area at the center of our Galaxy, Sagittarius is home to many star clusters including open clusters (marked here with yellow circles) and globular clusters (marked here with yellow circles with + signs superimposed on them). Three nebulae are also marked here with green squares. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

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Ophiuchus appears as a headless stick figure

Ophiuchus Constellation Map

Caption: The constellation Ophiuchus along with its bright stars and its surrounding constellations. Ophiuchus is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Hercules, Serpens Caput, Scorpius, Sagittarius and Serpens Cauda. Ophiuchus is not part of the traditional twelve zodiac constellations but it lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Ophiuchus from late November to mid December. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus spans the celestial equator and thus part of the constellation is visible across the whole of the earth at some point in the year. However during the time it is most visible in the evenings (the southern hemisphere winter and northern hemisphere summer) much of the arctic is in perpetual daylight making the stars in the constellation impossible to see. The whole constellation is visible from equatorial and temperate regions of both hemispheres. As Ophiuchus lies close to the galactic center it contains many globular clusters such as M9, M10, M12, M14, M19, M62, and M107. These are marked as yellow circles with plus symbols superimposed. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

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Ara appears as a quadrilateral in portrait with the right side shorter than the left

Ara Constellation Map

Caption: The constellation Ara along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Ara is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Scorpius, Norma, Triangulum Australe, Apus, Pavo, Telescopium and Corona Australis. Ara is a southern constellation that is visible from the entire southern hemisphere at some point in the year and is visible from equatorial with parts of the constellation visible from some temperate parts of the northern hemisphere. It is best viewed in the evening in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The globular clusters NGC 6352 and NGC 6397 lie in Ara. These are marked here with yellow circles with plus symbols superimposed on them. The open cluster NGC 6193 also lies in Ara, this is marked here with a yellow circle that is partially obscured by the dot marking the brightest member of the cluster which is visible to the naked eye under good conditions. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

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Corona Australis has a sickle shape, curving upwards as we move from right to left

Corona Australis Constellation Map

Caption: The constellation Corona Australis with its brighter stars and surrounding constellations. Corona Australis is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Sagittarius, Scorpius, Ara and Telescopium. This constellation has relatively few bright stars. Corona Australis is a southern constellation and thus the whole constellation is visible in the southern hemisphere at some point in the year. The constellation can also be viewed from equatorial and some temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. The constellation is best viewed in the evening in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The globular cluster NGC 6541 lies in Corona Australis and is marked here with a yellow circle with a plus sign superimposed on it. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky. The blue line at the top right of the diagram marks the ecliptic.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by the IAU and Sky & Telescope

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Lupus takes the shape of a stick figure drawing of a wolf with the head facing north rotated slightly anticlockwise

Lupus Constellation Map

Caption: The constellation Lupus with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Lupus is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Libra, Hydra, Centaurus, Circinus, Norma and Scorpius. Lupus is a southern constellation and thus the whole constellation is visible at some point in the year throughout the southern hemisphere. The whole constellation is visible in equatorial and some temperate regions of the northern hemisphere with parts of the constellation visible to remaining temperate regions. Lupus is best viewed in the evenings in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. The blue line in the top left of the diagram marks the ecliptic. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by the IAU and Sky & Telescope

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Norma has a kite shape with its thinnest angle pointing north-north-west

Norma Constellation Map

Caption: The constellation Norma with its brighter stars and surrounding constellations. Norma is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Scorpius, Lupus, Circinus, Triangulum Australe and Ara. Norma is a faint constellation with relatively few bright stars. Norma is a southern constellation and thus the whole constellation is visible at some point in the year throughout the southern hemisphere. The whole constellation is also visible from equatorial regions of the northern hemisphere with parts of the constellation visible from some northern hemisphere temperate regions. Norma is best viewed in the evening in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The open clusters NGC 6025 and NGC 6087 lie in Norma and are marked here with yellow circles. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by the IAU and Sky & Telescope

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