Science 18

Science at Parramatta High
Scorpius and Ophiuchus
— September 16 2000 —
(The night after the Olympic Opening Ceremony)

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More information below.

The photo was taken from the dark skies of north-western Victoria, on 16/9/00, the night after the Opening Ceremony for the 2000 Olympics.
The lens was a 28mm (wide angle) f2.8 using 400ASA film. Exposure was four minutes. The camera was piggy-backed on an equatorially mounted telescope, with the clock drive on.

Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, divides in two the constellation Serpens, the Serpent. Here we can see portions of Serpens Cauda (the Serpent's Tail) and Serpens Caput, (the Serpent's Head) held aloft by Ophiuchus.

He, incidentally, is the oft-forgotten (by astrologers) thirteenth sign of the zodiac. He qualifies for this title as his foot crosses the plane of the ecliptic (shown above as a green line). Astrologers would prefer that we ignored this inconvenient fact.

If you were were born between the 30th of November and the 19th of December, then your correct(?) star sign is Ophiuchus. This could be useful information next time you're at a party.

(By the way, all the other star signs are incorrect, too, because astrologers pay no attention to precession - among many other things.)

Two weeks later, the Scorpion's nemesis, Orion was captured (in part) back home in Sydney.

The classical illustrations of the constellations are derived from Johannis Hevelii's 1690 work, "Uranographia" The images have been reversed to suit our more conventional orientation. (Uranographia represented the constellations as they would be seen by a celestial observer, looking back at Earth.)

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