Constellations · 4 of 5
Scorpius & the Galactic Centre
Why does how far south you stand decide how high the Scorpion climbs?
Follow the Scorpion's tail into the thickest part of the Milky Way — and learn why your latitude decides whether you get to.
You’ll be able to find Scorpius and follow its tail towards the centre of the Milky Way.
Where and which night
Working out when this is best placed from where you are…
Where
Kept for this guide only, until you change it here — your map settings, and every other guide, stay as they are.
Print, play outside or present
Scan with a phone's camera, or open
Sources
- HYG stellar database v4.2 — star positions, magnitudes and every separation quoted here
- Ohnaka et al., A&A 555, A24 (2013) — VLTI interferometry of Antares, ~680 solar radii
- GRAVITY Collaboration, A&A 625, L10 (2019) — geometric distance to the Galactic centre, 8.178 ± 0.026 kpc
- Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, ApJL 930, L12 (2022) — image of Sagittarius A*
- Johnson, Mahelona & Ruggles, Nā Inoa Hōkū: Hawaiian and Pacific Star Names (Ocarina Books, 2015) — Manaiakalani, the hook of Māui
- Bortle, "The Bortle Dark-Sky Scale", Sky & Telescope, February 2001
With a keyboard, focus the sky, aim it with the up and down arrow keys, and press Enter to drop the pin at the centre of the view; or press Show me.