Scorpius is the most amazing of the zodiac constellations. Although astrology divides the year into 12 almost equal parts, astronomers know that in reality the Sun is only in it for 8 days. However, it also has numerous attractions.

Constellation Scorpius

Scorpius, who dislikes the Sun

On November 22, the Sun will enter the constellation Scorpius. As is almost always the case in such situations, astrologers strongly disagree with astronomers, claiming that our star entered the constellation on October 23 and left it on November 21.

The main reason for this is the shift in the vernal equinox due to the precession of the Earth’s axis of rotation. You can read more about this in this article. In fact, there is at least one more reason why astrologers disagree with astronomers about the time the sun is in different zodiac constellations, but for most of them, it is secondary.

But not for Scorpius. We are referring to the clarification of constellation boundaries, which occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. And in the case of this constellation, they were drawn in such a way that the Sun actually crosses it only along a narrow strip through its “head” and “claws.”

The constellation Scorpius. The blue line is the ecliptic. Source: Wikipedia

As a result, of all the constellations, it is in Scorpius that the Sun actually spends the least amount of time – only 8 days. On November 29, it will leave the poisonous multi-legged celestial being and move on to its neighbor, Ophiuchus, where it will stay longer than in Scorpius, but which is not considered a zodiacal constellation.

In general, November is the worst month for observing Scorpius. The reason for this is the same as for other zodiac constellations: it rises and sets with the Sun at this time of year and hides behind the horizon at night. The best time to observe it is in May and June, when it rises above the southern horizon.

The mythical monster

There are several myths about how Scorpius appeared in the sky. But in all of them, he appears as the embodiment of evil, whose actions lead to extremely bad consequences. The most common of these myths links Scorpius with Orion.

Scorpius in May. Source: stellarium-web.org

Orion was supposedly the most outstanding of human hunters, but his thirst for prey led him astray. According to one version of the myth, he began to pursue the Pleiades and chased them for seven years until the Scorpion, sent by Gaia or Poseidon, stung him, causing him to die in terrible agony.

According to another version, Orion demanded the goddess of the hunt, Artemis, herself. But she did not reciprocate his feelings, yet he continued to pursue her until she sent a poisonous messenger to kill him. Be that as it may, Orion and Scorpius are indeed located far apart in the sky, as if the former were hiding from the latter.

Another myth says that the celestial Scorpius is actually the one that frightened the horses pulling the golden chariot of Helios, the sun god. It was driven by his inexperienced son Phaethon, and the horses carried it too close to Earth, causing a worldwide fire. To stop this, Zeus had to kill the boy and the horses with a thunderbolt, and Phaethon fell into the river Eridanus.

The myth of Phaethon. Source: globalpowerelite.com

Antares and other bright stars

Although the Sun is in Scorpius for only a short time, there are more interesting objects in it than scary myths about it. The most notable of these is Alpha Scorpii, known as Antares. Among all the stars that make up the zodiacal constellations, it is second only to Alpha Tauri, Aldebaran.

At the same time, Antares is very noticeable due to its red color. Thanks to this, it got its name “anti-Ares,” meaning the enemy of Mars. In reality, it is much farther away from us than the Red Planet and incomparably larger than it.

It is a red supergiant located 550 light-years away from us. In fact, it is a binary system. Its main component, which we can actually see, has a mass of 12.4 solar masses, but has already used up almost all of its hydrogen and swelled to a size 400 times larger than our sun. It emits 75,900 times more energy than the Sun. However, all these measurements are actually quite approximate, because the giant star pulsates, changing its radius by 19%.

Antares compared to other stars. Source: www.statesman.com

The main component of the system is orbited by its companion, which is also a fairly large star. Despite having a mass 7.2 times that of the Sun, it has not yet exhausted its thermonuclear fuel and therefore has a blue color. Its diameter is 5.2 times that of the Sun.

There is still no consensus among scientists regarding the distance between the two components and, accordingly, their orbital period. The most accurate measurements to date indicate a distance of about 220 AU and an orbital period of approximately 1,218 years.

In any case, the Antares system is very young. Its age ranges from 11.8 to 17.3 million years. After some time, the larger of the stars will finally exhaust its thermonuclear fuel and turn into a supernova, and then into a black hole. Then, after a few million years, the same fate will befall the second star.

Lambda Scorpii. Source: www.star-facts.com

The second brightest star in Scorpius is its Lambda, which is called Shaula, derived from the Arabic word for “raised tail.” It is indeed located on the tail of the celestial arthropod and has an apparent magnitude of 1.62.

In fact, it is a triple system located 570 light-years away from us. The main component is a variable star of the Beta Cephei type. Explosive processes occur inside these hot and heavy blue stars, inflating their outer shells. In the case of Shaula, the mass of the main component exceeds that of the Sun by 10.4 times, and its luminosity by 36,000 times.

Around it, at a distance of 7,500 AU, there’s a smaller blue star. It’s about twice as heavy as our Sun. And around this pair, at a distance of 17,000 AU, there’s a third star that’s eight times heavier than our Sun.

The third brightest star in Scorpius is its Theta, Sargas. It is a double system located 329 AU away from us. What the smaller component of the system is and whether it exists at all remains unclear. But here is the main object of interest.

It is a star of spectral class F, which means it is slightly hotter than the Sun. Its mass is about three times greater than that of our star, its polar radius is 26 times greater than that of the Sun, and its equatorial radius is 36 times greater. In other words, it is flattened, and there is only one explanation for this: it was once a pair of stars that merged.

Theta Scorpii. Source: www.flickr.com

Nearby stars

The closest star to us in the constellation of Scorpius is Gliese 682. It is a rather dull red dwarf located 16.3 light-years away from us. Its mass is 27% and its radius is 30% of the Sun’s. In 2016, it was reported that two planets had been discovered around it, but their existence has now been disproved.

Next is the Gliese 667 system, located 23 light-years away from us. It consists of two orange dwarfs and one red dwarf. The first two have masses of 69% and 73% of the Sun and revolve around a common center of mass in a highly elongated orbit with a semi-major axis of 12.6 AU, completing one revolution every 42 Earth years.

And around them orbits a third star – a red dwarf with a mass of 31% of the Sun’s. And it is this object that is the most interesting in the entire system. At one time, scientists reported that Gliese 667 C had as many as six planets, but now the existence of two of them is recognized.

Planet Gliese 667 Cc. Source: Wikipedia

The first is Gliese 667 Cb. With a mass of 5.6 Earths and an orbital period of 7.2 days, it is most likely a large hot super-Earth or an equally hot mini-Neptune. This world must have a powerful hydrosphere and a dense atmosphere, the boundary between which is quite arbitrary.

But the second planet, Gliese 667 Cc, is much more interesting. Its mass is 4.1 times that of Earth, and it orbits its star once every 28 Earth days. Calculations show that the star can heat it to 4.3 °C, which is slightly higher than on Earth. Most likely, Gliese 667 Cc is significantly warmer than our planet due to a powerful greenhouse effect. However, it may still be the case that the temperature on it is not high enough for life to exist. But there is another problem: like many red dwarfs, Gliese 667 C experiences powerful flares. Whether they rule out the possibility of life on the planet is still an open question.

Other interesting stars

There are plenty of other interesting objects in the constellation of Scorpius. For example, the star U Scorpii is located here. It is a repeating nova with one of the shortest periods. The flares repeat every 12 years.

Like all similar objects, U Scorpii is a binary system consisting of a normal star and a white dwarf, which orbit each other in a very close orbit around a common center of mass. Matter flows from the first component to the second, and when a large amount accumulates on the latter, a thermonuclear explosion occurs, after which the process repeats itself.

U Scorpii. Source: Wikipedia

Another interesting object is the dawn of AH Scorpii. It is barely visible in our sky, but that is only because it is 7,400 light-years away from us. In fact, it is a red supergiant, compared to which even Antares looks small. This monster is 20 times more massive than the Sun, 1,411 times larger in diameter, and 329,000 times more luminous.

Also in the constellation of Scorpius is the object Scorpius X-1, which is the second brightest object in the sky when viewed in the X-ray range. The first is the black hole Sagittarius A* in the center of the Milky Way. As for this mysterious source of radiation, in the visible range, there is a hot blue star in its place. Scientists believe that it forms a pair with a neutron star, onto which matter falls from it, serving as a source of energy for such a powerful emitter.

There is also an object called a microquasar in the constellation Scorpius. Ordinary quasars are supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies that intensively absorb matter, part of which is converted into relativistic jets emanating from their poles. This makes them visible across the entire universe.

Microquasar. Source: Wikipedia

So, something like this, only on a much smaller scale, exists right here in our galaxy. The object GRO J1655−40 is a binary system containing a stellar-mass black hole. The second component is a normal star, and it is its material that is used to form a microquasar with jets shooting out from the poles of the black hole.

Globular clusters and galaxies

In addition to all of the above, the constellation of Scorpius is rich in objects that are neither stars nor black holes. First and foremost are the Butterfly Cluster, or Messier 6, and Ptolemy’s Cluster, or Messier 7. Both belong to open clusters. The first contains about 120 stars and is located at a distance of 1,590 light-years, while the second contains about 80 stars. The distance to it is 735 light-years.

There are also two noticeable globular clusters in Scorpius: Messier 4 and Messier 80. The first is the closest object of its kind to us. It is located about 6,000 light-years away. It is a region of space with a diameter of 35 light-years, containing stars with a total mass 84,000 times greater than that of the Sun.

Messier 4. Source: Wikipedia

In addition to star clusters, Scorpius also contains several nebulae. For example, NGC 6302, or the Bug Nebula. It really does resemble an insect with its antennae spread out on either side. In reality, it is a bipolar planetary nebula formed as a result of a red giant star shedding its outer layers.

Or NGC 6334, known as the Cat’s Paw Nebula or Bear’s Paw Nebula. It is a huge cloud of interstellar hydrogen illuminated by nearby bright stars. Intense star formation processes are taking place within it.

And, of course, there are plenty of galaxies in the constellation Scorpius. One example is NGC 6000, a barred spiral galaxy. It is about 112 million light-years away, but it appears relatively bright due to its active core.

Scientists have reproduced the chemical composition and size of Theia. It is believed that at the beginning of the Solar System’s existence, it collided with Earth. Research shows that, like our planet, it formed not too far from the Sun.

Theia

In a study published in the journal Science, researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) and the University of Chicago have discovered where the planet Theia might have come from. It is believed that this small body collided with Earth only a few tens of millions of years after it was formed.

This theory was put forward to explain where the Moon came from. And in principle, it is consistent. However, to this day, no one has been able to definitively say where this mysterious body came from. Did it follow the same orbit as Earth? Or did it follow a different orbit within the inner Solar System? Could it have come from beyond Jupiter’s orbit?

The answers to these questions could be found in the isotopic composition of the Earth and the Moon. Atoms of the same element can have different weights. And they were already separated in the protoplanetary disk around the Sun. The inner parts had one set, while the outer parts had another.

Chemical analysis

Theoretically, the origin of Theia can be determined by the differences in the isotopic composition of its material from that of Earth. To this end, researchers analyzed 15 samples of Earth rocks and six more brought back from the Moon. It is believed that most of Theia’s material may remain on our moon.

Scientists were interested in the ratio of iron isotopes, as well as chromium, molybdenum, and zirconium. And they found no particular differences. It seems that Theia did not come to us from the vicinity of the Solar System, but formed somewhere nearby?

But how close? Simple isotopic analysis cannot answer this question. Scientists resorted to modeling how Earth and Theia could have formed. It turns out that the chemical composition of our planet can easily be reproduced as a combination of different types of meteorites.

However, Theia should have contained a small but noticeable impurity of unknown origin. Scientists believe that this can be explained by assuming that this body formed closer to the Sun than Earth.

According to phys.org

Recently, scientists have confirmed the incredible resilience of living organisms to space conditions. Moss spores, which spent nine months outside the International Space Station in a vacuum and under intense radiation, were successfully grown into full-fledged plants.

Moss survival ability

Mosses thrive in the most extreme conditions on Earth: from the peaks of the Himalayas to the sands of Death Valley, from the Antarctic tundra to the lava fields of active volcanoes. Inspired by the resilience of moss, researchers sent moss sporophytes—reproductive structures containing spores—to the most extreme environment: space.

The results of the study, published on November 20 in the journal iScience, show that more than 80% of the spores survived for nine months outside the International Space Station (ISS) and returned to Earth while retaining their ability to reproduce. This is the first time that early terrestrial plants can survive after prolonged exposure by space elements.

“Most living organisms, including humans, cannot survive even briefly in the vacuum of space,” says lead author Tomomichi Fujita of Hokkaido University. “However, the moss spores retained their vitality after nine months of direct exposure. This provides striking evidence that the life that has evolved on Earth possesses, at the cellular level, intrinsic mechanisms to endure the conditions of space.”

Simulation of space conditions

To find out whether a plant such as moss could survive in space, Fujita’s team subjected Physcomitrium patens, a well-studied moss known as spreading earth moss, to simulated space conditions, including high levels of ultraviolet radiation and extremely high and low temperatures.

They tested three different moss structures—protenemata, or young moss; brood cells, or specialized stem cells that appear under stressful conditions; and sporophytes, or encapsulated spores—to find out which ones had the best chance of surviving in space.

Researchers found that ultraviolet radiation was the most challenging element for survival, and sporophytes were the most resilient of the three parts of moss. None of the young mosses survived under high levels of ultraviolet radiation or extreme temperatures. The brood cells had a higher survival rate, but the spores in the shell showed approximately 1,000 times greater resistance to ultraviolet radiation. The spores were also able to survive and germinate after exposure to a temperature of -196°C for more than a week, as well as after being kept at a temperature of 55°C for a month.

The team suggested that the structure surrounding the spore serves as a protective barrier, absorbing ultraviolet radiation and physically and chemically protecting the inner spore from damage. Researchers note that this is likely an evolutionary adaptation that allowed bryophytes—a group of plants that includes mosses—to transition from aquatic to terrestrial plants 500 million years ago and survive several mass extinctions since then.

“Space Travel” by moss

To test whether this adaptation could make sporophytes viable in real space conditions, the team sent spores beyond the stratosphere.

In March 2022, researchers sent hundreds of sporophytes to the ISS aboard the Cygnus NG-17 spacecraft. Upon arrival, astronauts attached the sporophyte samples to the exterior of the ISS, where they remained in open space for a total of 283 days. The moss then returned to Earth aboard SpaceX CRS-16 in January 2023 and was brought back to the lab for testing.

More than 80% of the spores survived the space journey, and all but 11% of the remaining spores were able to germinate in the laboratory. The team also checked the chlorophyll levels in the spores and found normal levels for all types, except for a 20% reduction in chlorophyll a, a compound that is particularly sensitive to changes in visible light, but this change did not appear to affect the health of the spores.

“This study demonstrates the astonishing resilience of life that originated on Earth,” says Fujita.

Mathematical model of moss survival in space

Interested in how long spores could survive in space, Fujita’s team used data from before and after the moss expedition to create a mathematical model. They estimated that spores in their shells could survive up to 5,600 days — approximately 15 years — in space. However, they emphasize that this figure is only an estimate and that a larger data set is needed for more realistic predictions of how long moss could survive in space.

Researchers hope that their work will contribute to the development of research into the potential of extraterrestrial soils to promote plant growth and inspire the use of moss to develop agricultural systems in space.

“Finally, we hope that this work will open up new horizons for building ecosystems in extraterrestrial environments such as the Moon and Mars,” says Fujita. “I hope that our research on moss will serve as a starting point.”

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