The southern end of the early sky is a bit congested this summer with the bright planets Jupiter and Saturn already shining away, with Mars adding to the fray next month in the early evening Butler sky.

In fact, Mars is going to be putting on quite a show this summer as it'll be as close as it has been to Earth in 15 years. I'll have much more of the great 2018 Mars invasion in next week's column.

Independent of the planets are some classic summer constellations. One of them is Scorpius the Scorpion, the 10th brightest constellation in the night skies and one of those few constellations that actually looks like what it's supposed to be.

Personally, I see Scorpius as “the giant fishhook” that trolls our low summer skies. You certainly won't crane your neck to see it. At the end of evening twilight look for Scorpius in the low south-southeastern sky.

This summer you can use the bright planets Jupiter and Saturn to find the celestial Scorpion. Those planets will be the brightest starlike objects in that part of the sky as darkness sets in. Just draw a line between them with your mind's eye and look just below that line for Scorpius. Of course you can only use that trick this summer because planets wander among the stars from year to year.

Most of Scorpius is easy to find, but its stinger can be a bit of a challenge because it's so very low in the sky around here. You really have to have a low flat, treeless southern horizon to see the celestial Scorpius's stinger.

Even at that it can be a bit of a challenge. Visibility is naturally hampered for stargazing that close to the horizon because you're forced to look through a lot more of Earth's blurring atmosphere.

Moderate to heavy light pollution and a lot of humidity in the air add to visual challenge. If you're ever in the southern U.S. Scorpius will be a lot higher above the horizon and you can get a much better look at it.

The brightest star in Scorpius is the bright brick-red star Antares at the heart of the beast. It's the brightest star in that part of the heavens.

To the right of Antares you'll see three dimmer stars in a vertical row that make up the Scorpion's head. To the lower left of Antares, look for the long curved tail of the beast.

Antares has a definite reddish hue, demonstrating the fact that stars come in different colors. They are not just little white lights in the sky.

A star's color tells a lot about its nature. Bluish white stars are the hottest; some have surface temperatures of over 30,000 degrees. Reddish stars like Antares are cooler. In fact, Antares is cooler than our own sun, with a surface temperature of close to 6,000 degrees.

A thermometer plopped on the sun's outer layer would show close to 11,000 degrees.

Antares' reddish hue is also reflected in its name. Antares is derived from the Greek language and means “rival of Mars” since it has the same ruddy tone as the planet Mars. You can easily confuse Mars and Antares with each other if you're new to stargazing.

There's no confusion between Mars and Antares when it comes to size. Mars is only about 4,000 miles across, a far celestial cry from the over 600 million mile diameter of Antares. That's over 700 times the diameter of our sun. If Antares was at the center of our solar system instead of our sun the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars would all inside Antares.

There are many stories in lore and mythology as to how Scorpius wound up as a constellation. The one I like is the Greek mythology story about how Zeus sent a giant Scorpion to kill the mighty hunter Orion, to end an affair he was having with Zeus' daughter Diana, the goddess of the moon.

Orion hunted by night and slept by day, and while he was on his nocturnal hunting adventures he was noticed and admired by Diana as she dutifully led the moon across the sky.

She would call down to the very manly hunter and they would have long distance conversations. As time went on Diana eventually joined Orion in his hunting jaunts, ignoring her lunar duties.

Zeus learned of his daughter's negligence and put a contract out on Orion. He had his staff send a giant scorpion to sting and kill Orion during his daytime slumber.

When the fateful day arrived and the giant scorpion approached Orion, the ever-alert hunter woke up as the beast stirred the nearby brush in its approach. Orion shot up and valiantly fought the scorpion with all his might, but eventually he was stung by the steroid-enhanced scorpion and died instantly.

That night Diana discovered the body of her boyfriend and was filled with tremendous grief. She managed to compose herself and lift Orion's body to the sky and transform it into the famous constellation we see during the winter evenings.

As she looked back down to Earth she saw the giant scorpion not far from where she found Orion. She put two and two together and decided to get revenge. She dive-bombed the scorpion, picked it up and flung it up into the opposite end of the sky from where her dead boyfriend was.

That's why Orion and Scorpius are never seen in the sky at the same time. Orion prowls the winter skies and Scorpius trolls the summer heavens. Orion won't get stung again.

Celestial hugging this weekend

The new crescent moon will have celestial hugging with Venus and Mercury in the low northwest sky during evening twilight.

On Saturday the moon will be snuggling with Mercury and on Sunday night it'll be spectacular with Venus. Don't miss it.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is also the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at adventurepublications.net. Contact Mike Lynch at mikewlynch@comcast.net.