Libra - The Balance

Learn about the constellation Libra - The Balance, location, facts, mythology, meteor showers and deep space objects.

It is a fairly inconspicuous constellation and has no star of the first magnitude, lying between Virgo to the west and Scorpius to the east.

Location: Northern Summer 15h RA -15° Dec

Since Libra was originally part of Virgo (as scales), and before that part of Scorpio, it was not a distinct entity for which a zodiac sign was named. Its place may have been taken by Bootes, which is the nearest to the ecliptic. Since the place Bootes should have held on the ecliptic is vacant, it may have, together with Ursa Major, Draco, and Ursa Minor, also in Libra, led to the myth of the apples of the Hesperides, one of The Twelve Labours of Hercules.

Libra Mythology

The constellation, which had originally formed part of the claws of the scorpion (Scorpio), is the youngest of the Zodiac and the only one not to represent a living creature. In later Greek mythology, the constellation, which when considered on its looks vaguely like a set of scales, was considered to depict the scales held by Astraea (identified as Virgo), the goddess of justice.

Libra Deep Space Objects

Libra is home to one bright globular cluster, NGC 5897. It is a loose cluster, 50,000 light-years from Earth; it is fairly large and has an integrated magnitude of 9.