Eridanus Optics CC May 2006 Targeting Scorpio Scorpio lies above the eastern horison in the early May evenings and provides several targets for naked eye observation as well as for binocular and telescopic viewing. The directions refer to the attached sky map. Naked eye targets: Scorpio is a constellation that doesn’t require a super imagination to interpret. Dschubba represents the head of the scorpion while Graffias and Pi Scorpii can be regarded as the two claws. (The true claws are actually part of Libra). The body runs through Al Niyat, Antares (the red hart of Scorpio) and Tau Scorpii. It continues to Wei, Mu Scorpii and Zeta Scorpii. The tail continues from here through Eta Scorpii, Sargas, Iota Scorpii, Girtab and Shaula. The telson (stinger) ends in G Scorpii. Most of the stars mentioned above should be visible even from light polluted sites. Antares (the heart) is a red supergiant, with a diameter about 500 times the Sun’s diameter. Mu Scorpii consists of two components that can be seen with the naked eye. Other pairs that can be seen with the naked eye include Omega Scorpii and Zeta Scorpii. Binocular Targets: NGC6231 is an open cluster that consists of about 120 stars. Telescope Targets: M4, the cat eye globular cluster (Magnitude 7.5) can be found near Antares. Although M4 can be seen through Binoculars, small telescopes will show a string of stars running through the cluster’s centre. Large telescopes may reveal several star chains. Another Globular cluster, NGC 6388, can be found near Sargas. The visual magnitude of this cluster is 6.7. Happy hunting! Andrie E c lomela l i p t i c Lib υ τ Lib Norma χ Lup - 6 0 ° η Lup NGC 6067 ρ Sco π Sco θ Lup 2 Nor θ Lib γ Dschubba η Ara 16h Graffias ω1 Sco ν Sco M80 ζ Ara Al Niyat HIP80911 Cat's Eye (M4) ε1 Ara HIP81304 Antares τ Sco χ Oph ζ Sco Araβ Ara µ2 Sco µ1 Sco NGC 6231 Wei ϕ Oph Scorpius η Sco NGC 6397 α Ara Flickering Globular (M62) M19 NGC 6388 Sargas Lesath Shaula HIP86170 θ Ara Girtab 45 Oph ι1 Sco θ Oph Sabik 44 Oph Butterfly Cluster (M6) G Sco NGC 6541 M9 ζ Tel Ptolemy's Cluster (M7) α Tel - - - 1 3 4 5 0 Arkab 5 ° Viewing from Pretoria, South Africa Long: 28° 13' 24" Lat: -25° 43' 29" 2006/05/18 08:00:00 PM (Local) Chart centre (J2000): RA: 16h 52.417m Dec: -35° 34.683' Looking: south east (23° above horizon) FOV: 45° Limiting Magnitude: 6.6.