Zeta² Scorpii (Zeta² Sco, ζ² Scorpii, ζ² Sco) is a K-type orange

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Scorpius Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Gre ...

. It has an

apparent visual magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's lig ...

which varies between 3.59 and 3.65, and is located near the blue-white supergiant star ζ¹ Scorpii in Earth's sky. In astronomical terms, ζ² is much closer to the Sun and unrelated to ζ¹ except for line-of sight co-incidence. ζ¹ is 5,700 light-years away and probably an outlying member of

open star cluster An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and ...

NGC 6231 NGC 6231 (also known as Caldwell 76) is an open cluster in the southern sky located half a degrees north of Zeta Scorpii. NGC 6231 is part of a swath of young, bluish stars in the constellation Scorpius known as the Scorpius OB1 association. The ...

(also known as the "northern jewel box" cluster), whereas ζ² is a mere 132 lightyears distant and thus much less luminous in real terms. ζ² can also be distinguished from its optical partner, ζ¹, because of its orangish colour especially in long-exposure

astrophotographs Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1840, but it was no ...

References

{{Stars of Scorpius, state=collapsed Scorpius (constellation) K-type giants Scorpii, Zeta2 152334 082729 Suspected variables 6271 Durchmusterung objects