Do you know your zodiac sign? Would you know how to find it in the night sky? UW-Milwaukee’s Manfred Olson Planetarium has been hosting a series of events based on the zodiac, and this month they are highlighting Scorpius.
Director of the planetarium and Lake Effect's astronomy contributor Jean Creighton explains why we often hear Scorpio not Scorpius, "The official name is Scorpius, but you certainly will see it referred to in a Zodiac context as Scorpio, so I think it's OK and I have to say there's something to be said about Scorpio because it ends with an O, which is how you would say it in Greek."
To find it at night, you'll have to look low in the sky this time of year.
"I describe it as an arc with the curvy body and a stinger ... I think it's one of the few constellations that kind of looks like what it's supposed to," Creighton says.
The mythology behind Scorpius has to do with Orion. Orion was a famous hunter and he boasted that he could kill any monster. Earth found Orion arrogant and challenged Orion to a fight.
"Orion is getting ready for this big monster ... and instead, to humiliate him, she sent him a tiny scorpion that stung him, found his ankle and of course big old Orion stepped on the Scorpion, killing the scorpion. But also, because this was one of these really poisonous scorpions, Orion died too," Creighton explains.
Zues, to honor both, decided to put them across the sky as far from each other as possible so they could leave each other in peace according to Creighton. "And that is how the Ancient Greeks explained that if you see Scorpius, you cannot see Orion and vice versa," she says.
To learn more about the Scorpius constellation and the mythology the planetarium is hosting a live, interactive show called Constellations of the Zodiac: Scorpius this Friday and Saturday.
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