Libra (abbr. Lib, gen. Librae)
The Scales. Libra is a faint southern constellation
that is the seventh of the zodiac and the
only one that is not named after a living thing. It lies between Virgo
to the west and north and Ophiuchus to the east.
Appropriate to its name, it once held the autumnal equinox
(but no longer, thanks to precession). However, "Libra" is a more modern
name, its two brightest stars once representing the outstretched claws of
the Scorpion. See below for details of the constellation's brightest stars
and interesting deep sky objects.
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Libra. © 2003 Torsten Bronger.
Copied here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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| Stars brighter than magnitude 4.0 |
| Star |
Visual
mag. |
Abs.
mag. |
Spectral
type |
Distance
(lt-yr) |
R.A. (h m s) |
Dec. ( ° ' '' ) |
| Beta (Zubenelschamali) |
2.61 |
-0.85 |
B8V |
160 |
15 17 00 |
-09 22 58 |
| Alpha-2 (Zubenelgenubi) |
2.75 |
0.88 |
A3IV |
77 |
14 50 53 |
-16 02 30 |
| Sigma (Zubenalgubi) |
3.25 |
-1.51 |
M3IIIa |
292 |
15 04 04 |
-25 16 55 |
| Upsilon |
3.60 |
-0.28 |
K3III |
194 |
15 37 01 |
-28 08 06 |
| Tau |
3.66 |
-2.02 |
B2.5V |
445 |
15 38 39 |
-29 46 40 |
| Gamma (Zubenelhakrabi) |
3.91 |
0.56 |
K0III |
152 |
15 35 32 |
-14 47 23 |
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