• The moon on this Friday night actually shines in front of the rather faint constellation Libra, but it is moving toward the upper part of the constellation Scorpius. These three stars are sometimes called the Crown of the Scorpion. You'll see the moon even closer to these three Scorpion stars tomorrow night, on Saturday, June 30.
• Scorpius - which now rises in the south-southeastern sky at early evening now - is the constellation of the Scorpion. Individually, the Crown stars are Graffias, Dschubba, and Pi Scorpii.
• It's rare when star patterns on our sky's dome have anything to do with real associations of stars in space, but these stars are thought to be loosely

bound by gravity. All three are located at approximately the same distance, about 500 light-years away. All are thought to be members of the Scorpius-Centaurus group, which was first recognized by astronomers in the early part of the twentieth century.
• About 100 stars are known in the Scorpius-Centaurus group, including Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius - also pictured on today's chart. The Scorpius-Centaurus stars share a common motion through space. They were probably all born from a single vast cloud of gas and dust. In other words, these stars are much like a family - loosely bound - sharing a common history.
• Keep a watch out for the rest of this month as the waxing gibbous moon visits the Crown of the Scorpion.
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