I write this while on a ship in the South Atlantic travelling from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia on a wildlife expedition to see the amazing creatures and plant life in the polar regions and Antarctica before the environment is altered through climate change.

To get here, on the way down south to Buenos Aires, I glanced out of my plane window at night over the wing to the east and saw a group of stars I recognised. This was the constellation of Scorpius. Anyone reading their horoscope of the 12 Star Sign Zodiac would know this as Scorpio, The Scorpion, which as it turned out, is my birth sign also shared with King Charles I and III, Joe Biden, Leon Trotsky, John Cleese, Bjork and even James Bond. Of course, the whole astrology thing has no basis in science and is just a bit of fun. I also share my Scorpio birthday (within October 24 to November 22) with Edmond Halley and Edwin Hubble, far greater astronomers than I will ever be! They would have seen Scorpius as one of the brightest constellations in the night sky. The name is Latin for scorpion, or the “creature with the burning sting.”

The Constellations Scorpius and Orion are often intertwined in Greek mythology. According to one myth, Orion boasted that he would kill every animal on the earth so the goddess-hunter Artemis and her mother, Leto, sent a scorpion to kill Orion. Then Zeus put the scorpion in the heavens after it won the battle. But Scorpius is not a scorpion to everyone. The Javanese people of Indonesia call this constellation Banyakangrem, meaning “the brooded swan” or Kalapa Doyong, meaning “leaning coconut tree.” In Hawaii, it is known as the demigod Maui’s Fishhook. In Chinese mythology, the constellation was part of the Azure Dragon.

Scorpius has 18 named stars, including bright Antares, the so-called “rival of Mars,” a red giant star named for its bright reddish colour that looks just like Mars. Stars Shaula and Lesath, are sometimes called the “Cat’s Eyes” because they are so close together. It also has 14 stars known to have planets orbiting them. One of these, PSR B1620-26 b, is nicknamed “Methuselah” because of its extreme old age. It’s estimated to be around 12.2 billion years old, (the universe is estimated to be about 13.8 billion years old). The constellation is also home to potentially habitable planets, including some orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 667C.

Because of its location near the centre of the Milky Way, Scorpius has many interesting objects to observe, including stars, open and globular clusters, and nebulas. Though some are visible with the naked eye, most need a good pair of binoculars to a small or medium-sized telescope to see them. No scorpions in the icy south polar area except the one in the night sky.

Glynn Bennallick