Scutum the Shield constellation is fairly easy to find if you know where to look and if you have
dark enough skies. Scutum is a faint constellation that lies between Aquila, Sagittarius, and Serpens.
The key to finding Scutum is knowing where Aquila is, and that's easy enough to find by using this
Summer Triangle asterism. In this video we will explore how to find Scutum the Shield,
how it originated and some of the celestial objects that are within its boundaries.
Welcome to Learn the Sky. My name is Janine and I'll be your guide as we
explore the night sky together one constellation at a time.
Scutum the shield is classified as a modern constellation by the
International Astronomical Union and it was first named by Polish astronomer
Johann Hevelius in 1684. He originally named this constellation The Shield of Sobieski,
and here's the Latinized version of that name, and Hevelius named this pattern after the Polish king
named John III Sobieski after his victory at the battle of Vienna in 1683. This is a pretty tiny
constellation so if we were to rank it in terms of its size it's the 84th largest constellation
out of 88, or a better way of saying that is the fifth smallest constellation in the sky.
I did discover that it's the only constellation that is named after a non-classifical
historical figure. So as you're looking at this,, and you're not sure where exactly it is, let
me point out where Scutum is, at least part of it um, or no I do have the whole thing in here.
So when can you see it? This constellation can be seen in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere.
These are the latitudes that you should be able to see this constellation, and it's best
seen in the summer months. So the best way to find it is knowing where Aquila is. If you need
help with how to find Aquila I already have a video on that so go see that link listed below,
and if you're wanting to connect Aquila with the Summer Triangle, which is what I do and how I find
this constellation, find Aquila and it kind of looks like there's a little tail on the end
of the bird, and that's how you can find Scutum. So Scutum is a fairly new constellation to me because
somebody requested that I um make a video on this one. So I didn't know much about this one and here
I realized I actually know exactly where this is and have been looking at it for a while, I
just kind of didn't know it. Sometimes you tend to focus on certain constellations and when there's
88 of them I've really only explored about half of that, even probably a little less. The stars are
fairly faint so you really need dark skies to see it. This is an excellent dark sky or long exposure
picture that shows the deep objects in the Milky Way galaxy.
This constellation is known for Messier 11, which is called the Wild Duck Cluster,
and Messier 25, and I did also discover there's a meteor shower connected to this
constellation and it comes from June to July. It usually peaks towards the end of June.
Now let's take a look at the pattern that Scutum makes in the sky. Here we have a picture of the
map of Scutum, and notice what surrounds it: Aquila, you have Serpens which is being held by Ophiuchus,
and then Sagittarius is right here as well. Notice the blue line, this is the ecliptic, the path of the
Sun, planet, and the Moon and Scutum is located nearby. So the way I find Scutum is really using
Aquila, and you use the bright star Altair to help you find Aquila and then you kind of go to, this is
like the wings of the bird right here, go towards the tail of the bird, the stars kind of make a
little hook, and then that's how you can find this diamond shaped constellation. If we were to zoom in
you can see that there are two celestial objects we're going to focus on that you can find.
So you want to look for this diamond shape pattern, but notice that the magnitude of
these stars is like four and five, so they it's very faint stars, it sits right in the Milky Way
which is what we're going to explore with now. So as you look at this picture I want you to notice
the bright star here, that's the star Altair and from there you want to point out Aquila,
okay, and Aquila is fairly easy to point out in the sky, remember I've got a video on it if you need
help on how to find it, but you go to the tail kind of make this little hook, and that's where Scutum
is located. There are some other constellations in this picture too, we have Delphinus, I've
got a video on that to go check it out, and this one right here is Saggita, it's represented
as an arrow. Here is another cool picture I found of part of Scutum the Shield, and this is a
long exposure photograph where you can see that the duster in the Milky Way is really
coming through in this picture, and if we were to point out where Scutum is that's where part
of the constellation is, and you can see there are some objects that are located, some star clusters,
so we have Messier 11 and Messier 26. So let's keep looking at some other
photos to help you get used to how to find this constellation. So as you're looking at
this photo take your eyes towards the left side, point out the Summer Triangle, that's just the
three brightest stars on the left side, connect the dots and that will give you the Summer Triangle.
From there you want to find Aquila. Aquila is right down here, it's the second brightest star in the
triangle, Vega is the brightest, and then Deneb is the other brightest. Here is where Aquila is so go
towards the tail of the bird, um oh there's there's the other constellations of the Summer Triangle
and that's where Scutum is right there, okay, and you can see these are areas of the Milky Way.
So again if you happen to see dark skies like this, this is how you can find Scutum, but mostly you
want to be looking for Aquila. Let's take a look at one more picture just to get more practice here.
I use this photograph a lot because there's a lot of constellations in here, it's a very wide
view field, so here um is the Summer Triangle, right here, that's what stands out to me, and
then Scorpius, right here, really stands out to me, it's like the first thing I see in the sky,
definitely one of my favorite constellations, I've got a video on it so go see that video if you want
to learn more, but there's the Summer Triangle. So now we want to find Aquila, and then Scutum is that
diamond shape, and I can see it right now as I'm looking at it, this little diamond shape right here,
and if we were to point it out that's where Scutum is. So if you want to see it you got to seek out
dark skies, and if you wanted to know everything else that's in here there's a lot. So we've got
Ophiuchus takes up a large portion of the sky, Scorpius, Corona Australias, and the Teapot which is
really Sagittarius, and Delphinus is right here too. So I hope this is helpful for you in order to get
some practice with understanding how everything is oriented towards each other in the sky.
Another cool little fun fact I learned about Scutum is that the probe known as pioneer 11,
that was launched by NASA, is the second spacecraft to leave the solar system, and it's moving towards
this constellation, and NASA has since lost contact with this since it's so far away and it's one of
the earliest probes that NASA launched and left the solar system, but I just think it's cool
to think about it that as you're looking towards Scutum in the sky, that a piece of something from
Earth is traveling towards that constellation, just something really cool to think about.
Next let's take a look at the bright stars that are located in the constellation of Scutum.
So keep in mind that most of these stars in this constellation are very faint, of fourth
and fifth magnitude, however as I was exploring this constellation I learned that there are like
some super sized giant stars and I wanted to share some of that info with you. So first let's
go over the Alpha and Beta designations of this constellation. Alpha Scuti is an orange giant star
estimated to be 199 light years away, and then Beta Scuti is the second brightest star. It's a
yellow giant star that's a binary system and that one's farther away at 920 light years away. The
Gamma Scuti star is the third brightest, and it's a white star estimated to be 319 light years away,
and Delta Scuti is a white star this one is the fourth brightest and estimated to be 200 or so
light years away, and what this what's interesting about this star is that it's moving towards our
solar system and at its closest point it would be 10 light years away, and that would make it just
as bright as Sirius in the night sky when it does come close to us, but that's a really really really
long time away, but the star I wanted to explore with you was is called UY Scuti and this is a red
hypergiant star. I circled the area in which it's located in this constellation right here, and
its distance is estimated to be 9,500 light years away, and this is one of the most massive stars
known. It has approximate estimation and mass , or actually solar radii it's estimated to be
between 700 to 1,700 solar radii. I found a range for this constellation but here is a picture I
found to give you an idea of how big it is, so we have the scale of the sun this is UY Scuti and
the sun is like a little pixel, one pixel, which we can't really even distinguish with our eye. So that
just shows you how big it is, and here is a picture of UY Scuti and I found this image as well. This
gives you an idea of some of the size comparisons of how big this star is in comparison to
Antares and Deneb. These are some of the stars I've talked about on this channel. I've talked about the
the three belt stars as well, so um Betelgeuse or some people say Betelgeuse, that's another star
that is a red super giant star, but this one is like extra extras large, so um here's another one
that, another size comparison. So earlier when I was reading about this star, we have a star name Y or
VY Canis Majoris, and this was once the largest star that we have previously seen, but since
since we have found this star and astronomers have made their measurements on it, UY Scuti is
much bigger than Canis Majoris or VY Canis Majoris. I also found another star in here that is called
the Stephenson 2-18 star. This is another red hypergiant that's located. So the two largest stars that
have ever been observed are located in Scutum, and this one's farther away it's estimated to be 18,000
to 20,000 light years away and it's one of the most massive stars known. It's estimated to be
2,150 solar radii. That's difficult to even comprehend, and this star is part of a cluster
that stretches over the sky and it contains 26 red supergiants, and this is the largest population
known of red supergiants in the Milky Way, um, so very interesting to learn about this, um,
here's just a comparison and this is Stephenson 2-18, and then, UY Scuti, and then this is
Canis Majaris, VY Canis Majaroris, so just giving you a size comparison. So when you're looking towards
Scutum know that you're looking at some of the largest stars that we have seen, or largest groups
of red supergiant stars, just something else very very interesting about this constellation.
Now we'll take a look at some of the celestial objects that you can see in Scutum the Shield
constellation. When you're looking at the star map you can notice that the two
main objects defined are Messier 11 and Messier 26, both are open star clusters. Let's take a look
at Messier 11, because this one can be seen with unaided eye if you have dark enough skies. Its
magnitude is 5.8 and the limits for the human eye is about six magnitude, so you
can see it but you definitely need those dark skies, and it's known for its triangle
shape which astronomers thought it resembled a flying flock of ducks, so um it has
a very rich composition of stars, and it's about 20 light years across, and has close
to 3,000 stars. So that's the one you want to try to find in the constellation located right here. So
um, kind of the tail of Aquila points right towards it, and sometimes it'll look like a fuzzy patch
in the sky. Here's another version of what it looks like, another beautiful picture taken by the Hubble
telescope. So messier 26 is one that you would need magnification to see because it has a magnitude
of eight, remember the human limit is six, and if you want to learn more about magnitude I've
got a video about that. So Messier 26 is also an open star cluster. It's a little closer
um with its distance at 5,160 light years away and it's estimated to be 90 million years old, so
fairly young in terms of the age of the universe, and you can see the Milky Way is kind of in the
background, that's what it's known for, but this is that dense cluster of stars you want to look for.
Let's take a look at the origin of Scutum the shield constellation. It was originally named
in the 17th century by Polish astronomer Johann Hevelius and he named it the Shield of Sobieski,
and this was to commemorate the victory of the christian forces led by Polish King John III
Sobieski, and he ruled between 1674 and 1687 and it was a time of peace, and prosperity for the people
of Poland, and this vid this picture right here commemorates this victory at the Battle of Vienna
and I was interested to learn a little bit more about Johann Hevelius. I knew
he was connected to lunar topography and he spent four years mapping the moon, but he also described
ten new constellations, seven of which are still named by the International Astronomical Union,
and that astronomers refer to today. He had the patronage of 4 Kings of Poland and he
observed sunspots, he discovered uh four different comets, and I was pleased to learn that his wife,
Elizabeth Koopman was actually one of the first female astronomers, and I actually didn't
know this so I looked into this and he married her, and she also helped him with observations, and here
is an uh portrait of her observing the sky, and um it was really interesting that Johann Hevelius and
his wife, there this is a image of them observing the sky, but she also is some a figure in history.
I want to dive in a little bit uh deeper because you know there's so much to learn and
we only learn more about astronomy by learning from the ones that came before us. So again
this is kind of the origin, right here, of how Scutum the Shield came to be.
We've come to the end of our video about Scutum the Shield. So let's review everything we've
learned about it so far. It's best seen in the summer months in both hemispheres. The Northern
and Southern hemisphere, and it's classified as a seasonal constellation. The best way to find it
is first find the Summer Triangle asterism, and then find Aquila, which is the eagle constellation,
its bright star right here is Altair, which is part of the Summer Triangle asterism, use the
tail of the bird to kind of aim you towards Scutum the shield, which makes a diamond shape in the sky.
Scutum is known for its large stars, both UY Scuti and Stevenson 2-18
are some of the largest stars that have ever been recorded at the time that this video was recorded.
It's also known for celestial objects Messier 11, which is right there, and Messier 26, which both
are which are open star clusters. So I wish you luck finding this constellation. The best way to
see it is seeking out dark skies and I know that can be a challenge depending on where you live.
If you live in an area with lots of light pollution you have to make that effort to
try to escape the city lights in order to find this constellation, but the key to learning it is
really the Summer Triangle. Use it to find Aquila, and Aquila will lead you towards Scutum the Shield.
I hope you enjoyed this video, remember it takes time, patience, and practice as you view the stars.
So keep going outside and keep looking up. Now most of the stars from our vantage
point are a fourth and fifth magnitude, so they're not very bright in the star, or
yep they're not bright in the star, not at all, god all makes no sense.