3. In 'June 1 at sunset (6.30 P.M.) Scorpius rose above the horizon in the east:  Antares is α, λ is Schaula (the sting), and θ is Sargas. If Antares was culminating at midnight in 'July 11 - 40 days later - then it ought to descend at dawn in the west after another 40 days, i.e. in day 192 + 40 = 232 ('August 20). But at that date when the last part of Scorpius was going down it was night (3.30 A.M.):  And at 6.30 P.M. in the early evening of 'August 20 it apparently was still too light to see stars:  But at dusk (7.30 P.M.) the whole constellation could be seen high in the sky: 
At 24.00 it was still there, but
now upside down:
At the time of the midnight
culmination of Antares, in 'June 11, the sky
was apparently lighter (perhaps due to a
faulty program, south of the
equator it would not be close to
summer solstice but close to
the winter solstice):
The tail of Scorpius was held high like a sign of going down. It looks as if the Scorpion had turned around during the night, from rising with his head high to descending with his tail high, but this is only an illusion - the orientation of Scorpius is unchanged, what has changed is the direcion of the view, from looking towards east to looking towards west. |
