A small faint constellation of the zodiac, the ancient Greeks knew it as the ‘claws of the scorpion’ an extension of the neighbouring constellation of the Scorpion, rather than the scales we see it as today.
However, the Romans made it a separate constellation at the
time of Julius Caesar. Since then the scales of Libra have come to be regarded
the symbol of justice held aloft by the goddess of justice Astraea.
The Arab astronomers knew these stars as Al Zubana or the
Claws. Syrain astronomers regarded it as Masa’tha the scales the Persians also
saw a set of scales but called it
Terazu.
In India it was Tula the balance while in China it was known
to early astronomers as Show Sing the Star of Longevity bit later it became
Tien Ching the Celestial Balance.
Alpha or Zubenelgenubi which means the ‘Southern Claw’ is actually the second brightest star with a magnitude of mag 2.7 lying at a distance of 77 light years. Zubenelgenubi is a F3 class star. A pair of binoculars will reveal that alpha is actually a double star.
Beta or Zubeneschamali or ‘Northern Claw, is actually the
brightest star at magnitude 2,6 lying at
a distance of 185 light years. Zubeneschmali is a B8 class star.
Gamma or Zubenelakrab or ‘Scorpion’s Claw’ magnitude 3.9 and a G8 giant star lying at a distance of 163 light years.
Ther are no clusters or galaxies brighter than magnitude 9
in Libra
www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
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