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Glite Dictionary
🌌 A star group ♐ A zodiac sign
Ophiuchus

Ophiuchus

1 9.9
A large group of stars forming a shape in the sky between Hercules and Scorpius
  • proper noun
  • /ˌoʊfiˈjuːkəs/
  • Specialized
: Ofiuco
  • During May, it shines at magnitude -2.5 in front of the constellation Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer.
  • the constellation Ophiuchus
  • Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer
  • Ophiuchus-Scorpius

Examples

  • Comet HiloCone is now a 4th-magnitude object in Ophiuchus as it speeds away from the sun, never to return.

  • Jupiter currently plies the ecliptic in Ophiuchus, near the southernmost point in the planet's 12-year journey around the Sun.

    Academic text (2007)

  • I no longer try to locate Ophiuchus wrestling with Serpens, the two constellations which in springtime would turn my gaze east, toward home.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Barnard's Star: a dim red dwarf star discovered by E. E. Barnard in 1916 within the constellation Ophiuchus ("the serpent holder").

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The Pipe Nebula appears silhouetted against the rich star clouds close to the center of the Milky Way in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer).

    Blog text (16)

  • The planet spends early November in Ophiuchus before crossing into Sagittarius.

Surface Forms

Ophiuchus main

Etymology

Ophiuchus comes from the Greek roots ophis 'snake' and -uchos 'holder', so the name literally means 'snake-holder'. The constellation is shown as a man holding a snake, which is why the stars form that picture.