Welcome to Learn the Sky, your online resource for learning about the constellations and how
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we offer. Welcome! My name is Janine and I'll be your instructor throughout this video about Libra.
Libra is a zodiacal constellation, which means that the Sun passes through it, and in this video we'll
take a look at the bright stars, the celestial objects, and examine some of the mythologies
that surround this constellation. Libra is a very ancient constellation that has been identified by
the earliest of human civilizations. Its form has changed over the years and some cultures
recognized it as the claws of Scorpius, however it also has been identified as a balance, as you can
see in this picture here, and this is possibly due to the fact that in ancient times the Sun entered
in the boundaries of Libra during autumn equinox, when the length of the day and night were equal.
Now due to the precession of Earth's axis the Sun is no longer in Libra during this celestial event,
however this could be one possibility in which Libra earned its name. So let's get a general
overview of this constellation. It's represented as scales, or a balance, and it's a very ancient
constellation. The Babylonians identified this as a scale, but it's also been seen in their
records as the claws of Scorpius. Records of this constellation have been seen in ancient
Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures. The name Libra is Latin for 'weighing scales', and it
was recorded as one of Ptolemy's 48 constellations in the second century, and this book that
Ptolemy wrote was really the authority on the stars for a very long time, and this is the only zodiacal
constellation that represents an inanimate object. So when can you see it? It's best seen in
the northern hemisphere during the late spring to early summer months. The best way to find it
is to use that strategy of arcing to Arcturus and speed down to Spica. Spica is in the constellation
Virgo, and if you can identify Spica and Virgo know that Libra is right next to it and then
you can also use the constellation Scorpius which is partially pictured in this in this
picture that you're looking at here. If you can find Scorpius and you know where Virgo is Libra
sits in between the two, and you really need some dark skies to see this constellation. Most of the
stars are fourth magnitude or higher, so this is one constellation that took me a very long
time to point out, and part of that is because there were many variations on the pattern of
this constellation. This is one variation that I'm showing you, where these stars connect to make a
triangle and then there's one line that goes down here, and one line goes down here, this is
probably the the dual sides of the the scale, and this is where it kind of the pans of the balance
are attached, however, but there are definitely variations of this that I'm going to show that
to you, and it really did take me a long time just because it's really faint. I lived in an area where
there were so many stars that it was actually very difficult to point out the constellation, and then
when I go back to my home state of Pennsylvania I'm also, I'm often finding it difficult to see
this at all simply because I live in an area where there's a good amount of light pollution.
Remember Libra was once identified as the claws of the scorpion, and the star names of Libra
represent a connection to the constellation of Scorpius, but Libra has also been connected with
a constellation Virgo, as Libra could be seen in the representation of the scales of justice that
she is so often seen holding, and here again is where Libra is, hopefully you're starting to to
memorize that pattern to help you find it in the sky. These stars right here are a part of
Scorpius, you have the three stars that kind of form a line right here, and then the Scorpius
would wrap down, we're only seeing a portion, but this bright star is Antares. So you want to use
these three stars, as well as this bright one, this bright red, one to help you find this constellation.
Let's review the pattern that Libra makes across the skies. So here we have the official star map of
Libra and what I want you to notice is that blue line that travels right through the middle of the
constellation and this is the ecliptic, it's the path of the Sun, and that's what classifies Libra
as is a zodiacal constellation. I also want you to notice the two major constellations that that you
can use to help you find this one. Here is Virgo, okay, and then here is Scorpius. Libra is sandwiched
in between these two, however in this map you can't see that bright star of Spica and that's
that's the main star you're gonna use to identify Virgo. Virgo is a very large constellation but
its stars are pretty faint and when you look at the magnitude scale, right here, you can see that
the stars of Scorpius are a third, second, even first magnitude right here, but when you look
at the stars of Libra they are of smaller size which means they have a larger magnitude, and
remember when we increase the magnitude the brightness of the star decreases, so it's an
inverse relationship that we see. So most of the stars are of, like these two bright ones, I would
say are a third magnitude and the others are a fourth magnitude. So you really need a dark sky
to see this constellation. So if we were to take a look, in this photo Libra is the constellation in
the middle of this photograph and it's stars are rather faint when you compare it to the other. Your
air eyes may be drawn to the area of the bright red star and that's Antares, it's a large red
giant star that's often dubbed the heart of the Scorpion, and this line of stars, these lines of
stars are part of Scorpius. So Scorpius is out in the summer months, so, so would Libra, because
Libra comes and rises before Scorpius. So here is the official star pattern of Libra, okay, the three
brightest stars are within the kind of triangle portion, but then I've also seen a depiction that
looks like this. So other depictions of Libra include the triangle oriented in a different
way, either way you look at it it's a faint constellation and it will hard to see if you
live in a place with a lot of light pollution. So to try to find Libra you want to go to a place
that has a dark sky and get away from that light pollution. The key is finding Antares and knowing
where it is and from there try to find the other stars of Libra. This is also another depiction I've
seen of Libra as well where the stars kind of make a diamond instead of a triangle. So
remember that many difference there are so many different sources about the stars and that the
pattern will shift, but that's okay. I typically try to find what the official star pattern is
but to each their own even when I look at the the official star pattern I don't always see
that, that particular pattern of stars. Sometimes I still kind of go with what I learned with growing
up. So we're gonna keep getting some more practice looking at the different stars and constellations
in this photograph and seeing if we can identify Libra. So this is a picture of a portion of the
summer sky, and the main star that stands out that's Antares, that's that bright red star kind
of looks orangish in this photograph but it's it's more reddish colored in the sky, and that's part of
Scorpius. So when you try to find Libra you want to find Scorpius and here's its pattern. Scorpius
is one of my favorite constellations because it's just really huge and very obvious in the sky and
depending on where you live on the globe it could rise high in the sky or it may not. Where I grew up
it was always really close to the horizon, but when I lived in Hawaii it was BAM, it was right there
super obvious in the sky. So the other, so knowing where Scorpius is you know that Libra should be
positioned before it in this general area. So it may be a little difficult to find the these stars
but here it is, that's where Libra is. Sometimes I look for these two little stars that dangle at
the end of the scale at one side of the scale, that kind of helps me find this constellation
as well. The other the other star pattern you're seeing here this is Sagittarius, or at least a
portion of Sagittarius called the teapots, it's an asterism. Remember an asterism is a pattern
that is not a true constellation but it's used, it could be a pattern within a pattern, or it could be
a set of stars that make connections either way you use it to help you find other constellations.
So if you can find Scorpius and you can find Sagittarius know that Libra comes right before
it, and remember it's a faint constellation so you really need some dark skies to see it.
So we've come to the end of our video about Libra so let's review everything we learned
so far. Libra the scales are best seen in the summer months, and it's classified as
a zodiacal constellation. The best way to find it are to look for the bright star Spica, that's
in the constellation virgo, and Antares, which is pictured here as the brightest star, and that's in
the constellation known as Scorpius. If you can find these two constellations you need to know
that Libra is in between these two constellations. There aren't a whole host of celestial objects
that you're going to be able to find, but there is a star cluster, a globular star cluster, that
are within the boundaries here as well. There are some galaxies but they are they're very very faint
and it would be very difficult to see. So this is one constellation that I have to admit it
took me a long time to find, and that's because the stars are pretty faint when you compare to
all the other ones surrounding it. I've really just had to figure out where it was knowing
that I could find Scorpius and find Virgo and Libra is sandwiched in between these two. So I
wish you luck finding this constellation in the summertime and if you have any questions
about this video feel free to leave some comments below. Good luck and keep looking up!