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Ephemeris: 07/14/2026 – What the bright star Antares’ name means

July 14, 2026 Leave a comment

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, July 14th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 9:26, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:11. The Moon is new today and won’t be visible.

The constellation of Scorpius the scorpion is low in the south at 11 PM these nights. Its bright star Antares will pass due south around 10:30 this evening. Antares is an interesting star in that it is a red giant star, and its name, Antares, means “Rival of Mars,” alluding to the fact that it and Mars appears to be the same color. And about every two years, Mars passes near Antares, so unless you know your stars and planets, you could mistake them for each other. Antares lies at the heart of the scorpion. To its upper right is the front part of its body and claws, and the trail of stars running down the other way, nearly to the horizon, in the south and back up in the south-southeast to the two stars of its stinger, make up its characteristic tail.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Scorpius Finder
Scorpius Finder in four frames. The 1st frame is the star field above the southern horizon as it might appear around 11 PM in July. The 2nd frame shows the constellation lines of Scorpius. I differ a bit from Stellarium in the lines above right of Antares. The 3rd frame is the constellation art that comes with Stellarium of Scorpius. The 4th frame is the star field again with the constellation lines, but seen without the horizon or atmospheric extinction getting in the way.
The next passage of Mars by Antares will be in November next year (2027), when they will be too close to the direction of the sun to be visible. The following passage will be on October 6, 2029, when they will be seen together in the fading evening twilight. Venus will join the party then. Created using Stellarium. I used Cartes du Ciel to determine the passage dates. Hint: Mars always passes north of Antares.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, Star Names Tags: , ,