Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, July 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 9:14, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:24. The Moon, halfway from full to last quarter, will rise at 11:37 this evening.

There’s a large constellation located low in the south around 10:30, 11 o’clock tonight. It’s Scorpius the scorpion. Its brightest star is Antares in its heart, a red giant star, that I used to get calls about from time to time as being a UFO. From Antares to the right is a star, then a vertical arc of three stars that is its head. The Scorpion’s tail is a line of stars running down to the left of Antares, swooping to the horizon before coming back up and ending in a pair of stars that portray his poisonous stinger. Scorpius looks huge lying on the southern horizon. But if you go south, Scorpius will be higher in the sky, and will look smaller. Being close to the horizon from here, Scorpius shares with the rising and setting sun and moon the illusion of increased size.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hr). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Scorpius animated finder for 10:30 pm July 27th. The Arabs saw a bigger scorpion with Antares in the upper part of its body, the arc of three stars near its head and its claws extending to Zubeneschamali (North Claw) and Zubenelgenubi (South Claw). The latter two stars belong to Libra the scales. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.