Libra:

Zubeneschamali
Amanda Garrow
Physics 1040-001 T TH 10am
Constellation Paper 2/20/14
Mythology
The constellation of Lira was ori!inally disco"ered y the #aylonians$ who called it
%iaanna$ and incorporated it to represent the alance etween the seasons$ days$ and ni!hts&
The time alance etween ni!ht and day was 'sed y the (!yptians to elie"e that Lira wo'ld
restore the o"er floodin! of the )ile *i"er ac+ the est le"el for the health of their crops and
land& ,-. At first the constellation of Lira was incl'ded as part of the constellation /corpi's y
the Gree+s$ and 'sed to represent part of the claws of the scorpion shaped constellation& Later it
was comined with the constellation 0ir!o and tho'!ht of as a scale held y the !oddess Astraea
who represented 1'stice& 2n 2ndic and 3iddle (astern c'lt'res$ Lira constellation was referenced
as the alance eam& ,4. ("ent'ally Lira was made a separate and distinct constellation y the
*omans d'rin! the r'le of 4'li's Caesar d'rin! the time of the a't'mnal e5'ino6 and they saw it
as the chariot of Pl'to& 2t was also noted as ein! first recorded in the 4'lian calendar in 47 #&C&
,8.
2n o'r c'rrent day$ the s'n passes thro'!h the so'th of the ecliptic thro'!h 0ir!o&
The mytholo!ical story attri'ted to Lira was that the wei!hin! scales seen were 'sed y the
res'rrection !od 9siris to wei!h the hearts of the people who were deceased so the co'rse of
their life after death co'ld e decided& 9n one of the scale plates 9siris wo'ld rest the heart of
the person who had died$ while on the other scale plate he wo'ld rest a feather& 2t was determined
that if the scale plate holdin! the person:s heart tipped the scale more$ the person was cast into
the 'nderworld to remain for eternity& Howe"er$ if the plate holdin! the feather was hea"ier$ the
deceased wo'ld then ecome a !od to rei!n in the hea"ens& ,-.
Constellation and Stars
The stars that ma+e 'p Lira form the shape of a scale$ which contri'ted to it ein!
named Lira$ which means ;wei!hin! scales< in Latin& The ri!htest stars that comprise the
constellation Lira are +nown as %'eneschamali in Araic for ;the northern claw<$ or in Latin$
Lan6 #orealis with a visual magnitude of 2.61, and the other ri!htest= %'enel!en'i and from
Latin$ Lan6 A'stralis$ meanin! >the so'thern scale> of the alance ,?.$ has visual magnitude of
5.153, and loo+s !reen to the na+ed eye ,1.& %'enel!en'i also happens to e almost e6actly on
the ecliptic= the yearly path of the s'n&
The stars that comprise the 'pper part of Lira:s scale shape are made 'p of the stars are$
%'eneschamali or #eta Lirae with a 2&71$ is the ri!htest star in the constellation and a dwarf
star$ Zubenelgenubi or Alpha Lirae with ?&1?@$ and %'enela+ra or Gamma Lirae with a
ma!nit'de of 3.91.
The remaining stars that compose Libra are rachium, or Sigma Librae with a
visual magnitude of 3.29, Methuselah, or HD 142!3 with ".223 and ha##ens to
be the oldest star in the $niverse with an age of 14.4% billion &ears old,
'om#ared to the $niverse of 13."" billion &ears. (he three remaining that ma)e
the remaining #arts of the s'ales are Librae, or Upsilon Librae with a magnitude of
3!" which classifies as an orange giant with a #3$$, % Librae, or &au Librae, with a 3!! and
is a blue'white dwarf star, and * Librae, or (heta Librae, with a 4.13% with and !4
+ greater mass than the Sun and 'lassifies as ,o ---. .3/
The follo!ing image reflects the placement of the stars in Libra.
"12/
The Lira constellation is positioned etween the constellations /corpi's and 0ir!o and
also happens to e the only inanimate o1ect amon! the constellations within the Aodiac and
n'mered as 8th& C'rrently the s'n enters the Lira scales on 9ctoer @0$ whereas 2000 years a!o$ it was there
on /eptemer 2@ when the len!th of the ni!ht and day were the same& ,3ellin!er and Hoffmann$ p! ?7.
;2n sidereal astrolo!y$ the /'n passes thro'!h Lira etween 9ctoer 17 and )o"emer 1?$
while in tropical astrolo!y$ it is considered to e in Lira etween /eptemer 2@ and 9ctoer
2@<$ ma+in! its prominent appearance d'rin! the season of a't'mn& ,7. Lira is est "iewed
d'rin! the s'mmer month of 4'ne$ any day at B p&m&
The Lira constellation can e fo'nd at *A 1?&21 ho'rs$ C(C -1?&?B de!rees and co"ers
ao't ?@- s5'are de!rees& 2t can e seen from the latit'des etween 7? de!rees and -B0 de!rees&
The orderin! constellations are Centa'r's$ Hydra$ L'p's$ 9phi'ch's$ /corpi's$ /erpens Cap't
and 0ir!o& ,@. Also interestin!ly$ the planet /at'rn is positioned 1'st )orth of one of the scale
arms$ t'c+ed inside of Lira& 3ars ein! the second closest planet happens to e located 1'st to
the Dest 1'st ao"e the top star= %'enel!en'i or ;/o'thern Claw of the /corpion<$ in the
constellation& The constellation /corpi's$ as seen in the shape of a scorpion$ is "isile 1'st to the
east of Lira and seen most easily aro'nd B pm in 4'ly$ a month after the s'n is foc'sed on Lira&
0ir!o is to the west of Lira and seen aro'nd B pm d'rin! the month of 3ay$ and is depicted in
the shape of the !oddess named Astraea that was early on seen pict'red holdin! the scale of
Lira& ,B.
The 20 ri!htest stars in the Lira constellation are listed in the followin! tale with their
location$ "isile ma!nit'de$ spectral classification and distance&
(ame )* +ec
,is
mag
+ist
-ly.
Sp class
E Li 1?
h
18
m
00&48
s
F0BG 22H ?-&@I 2&71 170 #-0
J
2
Li 14
h
?0
m
?2&8-
s
F17G 02H 2B&-I 2&8? 88 A@20
K Li 1?
h
04
m
04&27
s
F2?G 17H ?4&8I @&2? 2B2 3@/34222
L Li 1?
h
@8
m
01&47
s
F2-G 0-H 07&@I @&70 1B? M@222
N Li 1?
h
@-
m
@B&@-
s
F2BG 47H @B&8I @&77 44? #2&?0
O Li 1?
h
@?
m
@1&?4
s
F14G 48H 22&4I @&B1 1?2 M0222
P Li 1?
h
?@
m
4B&4-
s
F17G 4@H 47&7I 4&1@ 17@ M0222
17 Li 14
h
?8
m
11&07
s
F04G 20H 4?&BI 4&48 B1 Q00
R Li 1?
h
12
m
1@&@1
s
F1BG 48H 2B&BI 4&?4 @87 Asp&&&
@8 Li 1?
h
@4
m
10&?2
s
F10G 0@H ?0&@I 4&71 B4 M120
S Li 1?
h
41
m
?7&-2
s
F1BG 40H 42&BI 4&8? 400 M?222
T Li 1?
h
00
m
?-&@B
s
F0-G @1H 0-&2I 4&B1 @04 #B&?0
U Li 1?
h
24
m
11&B@
s
F10G 1BH 1-&-I 4&B2 107 Q?20
11 Li 14
h
?1
m
01&02
s
F02G 18H ??&BI 4&B@ 217 G-&&&
4- Li 1?
h
?-
m
11&@-
s
F14G 17H 4?&?I 4&B? ?1@ #-2a/2a
42 Li 1?
h
40
m
17&B1
s
F2@G 4BH 0?&0I 4&B8 @-1 M@222
V Li 1?
h
?@
m
20&07
s
F20G 10H 01&2I ?&04 @?7 #@0
@7 Li 1?
h
@4
m
@8&@1
s
F2-G 02H 4-&BI ?&1@ @7B M2/M@222
J
1
Li 14
h
?0
m
41&27
s
F1?G ?BH 4B&?I ?&1? 88 Q@0
2W Li ,B0 G& Li.
Tale X1 ,2.
/b0ects of interest:
The constellation of Lira is home to some interestin! o1ects$ s'ch as the pair of
interactin! !ala6ies named Arp 271& The !ala6y contains PGC ?2B40 and 8?$000 li!ht-years
across and PGC ?2B@?$ 40$000 li!ht-years across& The 'pper left and lower ri!ht show si!ns of a
tail-li+e li!ht trail showin! the path of the stars& )ear the ri!ht of the center is a s'perno"a named
/) 1BB?) formed y a star that collapsed& 2t is a rarity that it has emitted 6-rays& ,10.
#elow is an ima!e of the Arp 271&
,11.
/ome other interestin! o1ects within the constellation Lira are the spiral !ala6y )GC
?8B2 ,1@.$ with a "is'al ma!nit'de of 12&1$ disco"ered y Dilliam Herschel in 18-8& The )GC
?-B0 ,14.$ is an 'narred lentic'lar !ala6y with a "is'al ma!nit'de of 14$ disco"ered y 9rmond
/tone in 1--7& The lar!e !lo'lar cl'ster )GC ?-B8 ,1?.$ ma!nit'de of B$ was disco"ered y
Herschel in 18-?& The )GC ?--? ,17. is a arred spiral !ala6y with an 11&- disco"ered in 18-4
y #illiam $erschel. "3% The constellation Libra does not have an& 'essier ob(ects !ithin it
and the onl& )odiacal constellation that doesn*t.
2n the constellation Lira$ the first e6trasolar planet that is earthli+e$ Gliese ?-1 c$ fo'nd
in 2008 oritin! its parent star$ Gliese ?-1 ,1@a. a red dwarf within the star:s haitale Aone& ,@.
2t was fo'nd that si6 planets are oritin! the parent star and the most to orit a parent star esides
o'r s'n&
,1@.
,14.

,1?. ,17.
,1@a.
1. /pace&com
httpY//www&space&com/21?B8-lira-constellation&html
>Lira ,constellation.> Accessed 2/18/14
2. ;Lira< constellation Di+ipedia$
httpY//en&wi+ipedia&or!/wi+i/ListZofZstarsZinZLira
@. httpY//www&constellation-!'ide&com/constellation-list/lira-constellation/
Accessed on 2/18/14 Pict'res 1@$ 14$ 1?$ and 17
4. httpY//www&sciencephoto&com/s'1ect/Astronomy/constellations/lira
accessed 2/18/14

?. 3ellin!er$ A6le$ and /'sanne 3& Hoffmann& The Atlas of the stars& #'ffaloY Qirefly oo+s
Ltd$ 200?& Print&
7. httpY//www&topastronomer&com//tarCharts/Constellations/Lira&php
Accessed on 2/1-/14
8. httpY//www&astronomical&or!/constellations/li&html AccessedY 2/20/18

-. httpY//www&clar+fo'ndation&or!/astro-'tah/"ondel/lira&html AccessedY 2/20/18
B. httpY//www&topastronomer&com//tarCharts/Constellations//corpi's&php AccessedY 2/20/18
10. httpY//annesastronomynews&com/photo-!allery-ii/!ala6ies-cl'sters/arp-271/ AccessedY
2/27/18
11. Gala6y pict'res
httpY//cseli!man&com/te6t/atlas/n!c?-a&htm Accessed on 2/18/14
12. httpY//www&constellation-!'ide&com/constellation-list/lira-constellation/ Accessed on
2/18/14
1@a. httpY//www&space&com/B22B-alien-world-to'r-e6oplanets-star-!liese-?-1&html Accessed
2/28/14 Pict're of Gliese ?-1