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Arthur Dent: All right...how did we get here?
Ford Prefect: We hitched a lift.
Arthur Dent: Excuse me? Are you trying to tell me that we just stuck out our thumbs and some bug-eyed monster stuck his head out and said: 'Hi fellows, hop right in, I can take you as far as the Basingstoke roundabout'?
Ford Prefect: Well, the thumb's an electronic sub-ether device, the roundabout's at Barnard's Star¹, six light years² away, but otherwise that's more or less right.
– Douglas Adams' essential read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The Constellation Ophiuchus

The name Ophiuchus⁴ is derived from the Greek for 'man holding snake'. Ophiuchus the constellation most probably depicts Asclepius⁵, the demigod of healing (see 'Mythology' section).

Ophiuchus is situated between Serpens Caput and Serpens Cauda, two parts of the same constellation, namely Serpens, the serpent (or snake). Serpens Caput represents the head of a large snake, the middle of which is draped around the shoulders of the serpent bearer, Ophiuchus, who divides the snake with his own body. Serpens Cauda is the tail of the snake. The other constellations which share borders with Ophiuchus are: Aquila, Hercules, Libra, Scorpius and Sagittarius. An alternative name for Ophiuchus during the Middle Ages was 'Moses and the Brazen Serpent'.

Astrology

Ophiuchus is one of the 13 members⁶ of the zodiac, but isn't regarded as a zodiacal sign by modern astrologers⁷, who still prefer the old system, which is more than 2,000 years out of date. If the horoscopes were to be redrawn with accurate information, the 'star sign' Ophiuchus would be between Scorpius (Scorpio) and Sagittarius. For the curious, the Sun passes through Ophiuchus between 30 November and 18 December.

Mythology

It is thought the constellation Ophiuchus honours the demigod Asclepius the healer, who had been trained by Chiron the centaur. Asclepius, a son of Apollo, had learned how to keep death at bay by observing how nature worked, including snake behaviour. The gods could not allow the human race, under the care of Asclepius, to live forever, so Asclepius was struck dead by the great god Jupiter. His image was then placed in the heavens as the constellation Ophiuchus. The Babylonians considered him Marduk (the Sun god) in battle with Tiamat (the Bitter Ocean – Chaos).

The mythological goddess Angitia⁸ is usually pictured with snakes draped around her shoulders. Angitia was renowned for her knowledge of healing herbs that cured snake bites, and she used to have her own temple and treasury on the shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained in the 19th Century) of the Abruzzi region, central Italy.

Snake Charmers

The image of a beautiful woman draping a large snake around her body is quite evocative, and guaranteed to draw attention. Elizabeth Hurley is one sassy actress who harnessed the power of shock-tactic publicity to promote her 2000 film Bedazzled. It ensured box-office success for an inferior remake worthy of a Golden Raspberry Award.

Some snakes are harmless⁹, but the fear of snakes is quite a common phobia. Ophiophobia (or Ophidiophobia) is the name given to this fear. Some people who have no contact with snakes in their daily life are frightened of them, which is known as 'irrational fear'. Others fear the snake's ability to inflict harm or kill in their home environment. A true ophiophobic would dread even the image of a snake in a book or on a TV screen.

History

The Hippocratic Oath

Hippocrates of Cos was a member of a guild of physicians known as Asclepiads, whose origins can be traced back to Asclepius. The Hippocratic Oath is a guideline for the medical ethics of doctors, and graduating medical students swear on the oath before they begin practising medicine and treating patients. The staff of Asclepius with two snakes entwined around it is the widely accepted symbol of medicine.

Kepler's Supernova

In the early 17th Century, a star was seen to explode in the Ophiuchus constellation. The German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630) studied this phenomenon, now known as SN 1604, with great fascination. He eventually published his findings in De Stella Nova in Pede Serpentarii which means 'On the New Star in Ophiuchus' Foot'.

At the time of this phenomenon’s discovery in 1604 most people had a geocentric world-view (in which the Earth was at the centre of the universe and every other heavenly body revolved around it). To voice a different theory was considered heresy and many people died for their beliefs. The study of the supernova, which occurred near theta Ophiuchi, added to the weight of evidence which eventually led towards the scientifically accepted heliocentrism¹⁰.

First Suspected Extrasolar Planet

There is an interesting history to 70 Ophiuchi, a binary system comprising two orange dwarf stars. Captain WS Jacob of the Chennai Observatory, Tamil Nadu, Bay of Bengal, India, reported in 1855 that he had logged a discrepancy which suggested a 'planetary body in connection with this system'. To place this in historical perspective, back in the UK a young Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were creating their own tartan. Albert was also overseeing the instalment of flushing toilets in Buckingham Palace.

In 1895, US astronomer Thomas Jefferson Jackson See (1866 – 1962) also suspected an unseen companion, and his results were published in the astronomical journal of the day. At the time, See worked at the Lowell Observatory; he was dismissed from his post in 1898.

The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada debunked both theories in an article written by WD Heintz and published in June 1988. However, Captain WS Jacob's report is historically the first 'suspected extrasolar planet' based on scientific study by a professional astronomer.

Stars

The scientific star names are easy to understand (if you know your Greek alphabet). To make star classification simple, they were given Greek letters. For example, 'alpha Ophiuchi' means it is the brightest star in the constellation Ophiuchus. Combined with the genitive name, this is known as the 'Bayer designation'. Some stars have proper names as well, for example, alpha Ophiuchi is Rasalhague. Others are known by their catalogue number. Sometimes the cataloguing is a little off, or the stars are variable. In this case, the second-brightest star (instead of being the 'beta') is the designated eta, followed by zeta, delta, then beta!

Rho Ophiuchi is surrounded by a blue reflection nebula, IC 4603, which together with nearby emissions and bright nebulosities over a six-degree span form a stunning vista worthy of any impressionist painter.

Barnard's Star, aka V2500 Ophiuchi, is a red dwarf of 10th magnitude that is just six light years away. The triple star system 36 Ophiuchi is also a close neighbour to us, at 20 light years distance.

Deep Sky Objects

New General Catalogue (NGC)

The NGC was compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer (director of the Armagh Observatory from 1882 - 1916).

NGC 6240 is really special: it is butterfly shaped as the result of a collision between two previously separate galaxies. This merger happened so long ago that we are only able to see the aftermath. We have no way of knowing what the original galaxies looked like. A Chandra image of NGC 6240 has enabled astronomers to detect two supermassive black holes from the two distinct nuclei. The black holes are separated by about 3,000 light years, but they are drifting towards each other and will eventually merge. Due to the distance involved, 400 million light years, our snapshot of this binary black hole galaxy is like a postcard from the past. What we see no longer exists in the form that we see it. Maybe all that is there now is one extrasupermassive black hole!

NGC 6633 is a bright open cluster containing about 30 stars, possibly 660 million years of age. It was discovered in 1746 by the Swiss astronomer Philippe Loys de Cheseaux (1718 – 1751).

There are seven Messier objects in Ophiuchus. All of them are globular clusters.

M2-9

M2-9, also known as 'Minkowski's Butterfly', and 'Wings of a Butterfly Nebula', is a planetary nebula which was discovered in 1947 by German-American astronomer Rudolph Minkowski (1895 - 1976). The Hubble image taken in 1997 shows the nebula in remarkable detail. What we are witnessing is the spectacularly beautiful death of a binary star system; this is why there are twin jets, if it was just one star the nebula would be circular.

Meteor Showers

The space debris which creates a meteor shower comes from the tail of a comet as the Earth crosses where the comet passed previously on its own orbit. Imagine a trail of breadcrumbs or sawdust like that is used in hashing.

The meteor shower connected with this constellation is called the Ophiuchids. It was first reported by WF Denning in 1887. Since then, these showers have been reported annually, occurring between 13 May and 4 July. Although the ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate) is very low, the display produces a number of bright meteors and fireballs.

Extrasolar Planets in Ophiuchus

More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Epicurus argued about whether there were other Earth-like planets orbiting distant suns. Four extrasolar planetary systems have been found in the constellation Ophiuchus, up to 2007. The first was discovered in 2005. The figures in the table below are the length of the planet's orbital period around its parent star, which we know of as a year. The mass of the extrasolar planet is compared with that of Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet, known to astronomers as the 'Jovian scale'.

The star HD 156846 comprises a binary system: a yellow star similar to our Sun, HD 156846 A, and a companion, a red dwarf, HD 156846 B.

HD 156846 A has a planet, HD 156846 A b, which is ten times the mass of Jupiter. HD 156846 A b orbits its star in the habitable zone, but the orbit is highly eccentric, possibly due to gravitational interference from the red dwarf companion. The planet is a gas giant and not a candidate for the search for extra-terrestrial life. However, any rocky moons with enough gravity to retain an atmosphere would be a possibility.

Ophelia

Ophelia is possibly the female derivative of Ophiuchus. As a Shakespearean character she has almost legendary status. The image of the manner of the daughter of Polonius' death in Hamlet has been recreated many times in different art forms since Shakespeare's day.

Ophelia is a famous painting by the British artist Sir John Everett Millais that now hangs in the Tate Gallery. She is clutching a red poppy, said in Victorian flower-meaning literature to represent sleep and death. Every viewer of art has a different interpretation, the mystery being part of its beauty. Her eyes and mouth are open and her arms lifted as if in praise. Is the drowning girl seeing her deceased father or the gates of Heaven?

• Ophelia's pose in the painting was recreated by Kylie Minogue for the promotional image in her collaboration with Nick Cave on the single 'Where the Wild Roses Grow'.
• One of the moons (the second innermost) of Uranus is named after Ophelia.
• Asteroid 171 Ophelia, a possible binary member of the Asteroid Belt, was discovered on 13 January, 1877 by A Borrelly.

Health Warning

Care should be taken when handling snakes, especially the poisonous type. The Rev George Went 'Little George' Hensley started a religious doctrine for snake-handling in 1910, basing his stance on something he interpreted from the Gospel according to Mark: They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. In case you are wondering what happened to him, he died in 1955 after a snake bit him, but still his followers continue the trend.

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¹ Also known as V2500 Ophiuchi and Proxima Ophiuchi.
² A light year is the distance light travels in one year, roughly 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion km.
³ Current IAU guidelines use a plus sign (+) for northern constellations and a minus sign (−) for southern ones.
⁴ Pronounced oh-fee-U-cuss.
⁵ Some various other spellings include Aesculapius and Asklepios.
⁶ This is a good question for pub quiz setters, and knowing that Ophiuchus is the extra 'sign' would probably earn you a QI bonus.
⁷ Possibly because some people are triskaidekaphobic.
⁸ Probably from the Latin word anguis, meaning 'snake' or 'serpent'.
⁹ But not all. You would need to be careful when visiting Australia.
¹⁰ Meaning that the Sun (Helios) is at the centre.