Scorpio over Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona

All of the summer constellation Scorpius can be seen from Chiricahua National Monument in Southeastern Arizona. It lies on the ecliptic between Sagittarius and Libra. It also lies near the center of the Milky Way and contains many open clusters of stars. Its brightest star is the red giant Antares, a class M (M1.5) variable star which gets brighter and dimmer due to the orbit of a companion star over a period of 281 days. At its brightest point the star becomes some 60,000 times brighter than the Sun. Antares is ranked the 15th brightest in the sky and is 600 light years away.