Home > Constellations, Ephemeris Program, History > Ephemeris: 09/03/2024 – The constellation of Scutum the shield

Ephemeris: 09/03/2024 – The constellation of Scutum the shield

September 3, 2024

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 8:14, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:09. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 8:38 this evening.

In the southern sky between the Teapot of Sagittarius below and Aquila the Eagle above, with Altair the southernmost star of the Summer Triangle, lies Scutum the shield of John Sobieski the Polish king who stopped the advance of the Turks at Kahlenberg, which lies on a hill overlooking Vienna, in 1683. The Polish half of me is very proud. Scutum is one of two official constellations which are related to real persons. The other one is Coma Berenices, a hank of Egyptian Queen Berenice’s hair. It’s recent as constellations go, to fill up a section of the sky that the ancients couldn’t make out anything, because the stars here are so dim and embedded in the glow of the Milky Way as to be nearly impossible to discern. Scutum lies in one of the richest portions of the Milky Way, wonderful to scan with binoculars and telescopes.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Scutum’s stars are faint, so to me it’s just an area of the Milky Way between Aquila above and Sagittarius with it’s Teapot below. Seen looking south at 10 pm September in early September. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
The constellation Scutum, seen here as Scutum Sobiescian
The constellation Scutum, seen here as Scutum Sobiescian or Sobieski’s Shield), was invented by Johannes Hevelius and added to his 1690 Uranometria. Back in those days star charts were generally mirror images of the sky, because they were plotted first on a celestial globe. Thus seeing the sky from the outside, hence the mirror image. Later star maps were printed correctly as seen from the inside of the celestial globe. Of the constellations shown, Antinous didn’t survive to the present day. He also had Aquila the eagle flying to the southeast, rather than how it is depicted today, flying northeastward.
The constellation Scutum seen on a modern map
The constellation Scutum seen on a modern map with its constellation boundaries. Credit International Astronomical Union & Sky and Telescope magazine.
Commemorative plaque featuring Sobiesk
Commemorative plaque featuring Sobieski in Vienna. Credit: Wikipedia User: Pi3.124
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