August 24
The Scorpion's Last Light
Sun Position
The Sun is in Virgo at approximately +9° declination. The Northern Hemisphere is clearly in late summer; the Southern Hemisphere is gaining sunlight as it approaches the September equinox.
Sky Highlight
In late August, Scorpius is setting in the southwest earlier each evening for Northern Hemisphere observers, while it remains well placed for the Southern Hemisphere. From mid-southern latitudes, the full length of the scorpion (head, body, and tail) is visible above the horizon simultaneously on August evenings, a sight rarely available from northern latitudes.
Deep Sky Object
M6 (Butterfly Cluster) and M7 (Ptolemy's Cluster) in Scorpius are at their last favorable window for the year. M7 especially, containing roughly 80 stars at a distance of about 980 light-years, is one of the few Messier objects visible to the naked eye from any latitude south of about 50° N. Southern Hemisphere observers see both clusters high and well-resolved.
Featured Star
Shaula, the B1.5IV blue subgiant triple system marking the scorpion's sting at 700 light-years, is sinking toward the southwestern horizon for northern observers but still well placed from southern latitudes. Its companion stars make it one of the few naked-eye stars whose multiplicity was confirmed only in the 20th century.
Around This Date
- August 25, 1981Voyager 2 flew past Saturn at closest approach, and the images returned over the following days rewrote textbooks on Saturn's ring system, revealing a structure far more complex than Earth-based observations had suggested.
- August 28, 1993While flying past asteroid 243 Ida, the Galileo spacecraft photographed a small companion orbiting Ida, the first confirmed discovery of an asteroid moon, named Dactyl.
Scorpius sinks below the western horizon earlier every night in late August, a good reason to go outside now rather than waiting.