Sky Watch: The charms, quirks of Antares

If you've seen one star, you've seen 'em all." How many times have I heard that phrase over my long stargazing career!

I suppose it's true to one who seldom peers at the nighttime sky. It's really too bad, though, because those of us who spend more time looking up than down know there are few statements further from the truth.

It may also be tough for some to imagine that one could actually have a "favorite" star. But I do, and I'd be willing to bet that most experienced stargazers do as well. The reason, you see, is that stars -- like people -- have their own personalities. Once we get to know them as individuals, they take on many charms and quirks that are unique to them. The trouble is that most of us don't ever make the effort to get to know the stars. And that's a cosmic shame.

My favorite star is Antares, the brightest in the constellation Scorpius, the scorpion, which appears low in the southeastern sky during late evening next week.

With all the stars in the heavens from which to choose, why would I choose this particular one? I think of Antares as my favorite because I remember watching it intently as a child.

Antares was a star visible in the summertime sky, when school was out and the weather was warm. Today, of course, I recognize Antares as a red supergiant that is nearing the end of its stellar life. The star is so huge that if brought to our solar system and placed where the Sun is, the star's atmosphere would engulf the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and probably even Mars. And it's so distant that the light we see tonight has been traveling through space for more than half a millennium.

In other words, if there were a race of stargazers on a planet orbiting this aging and dying star -- something that is quite unlikely, by the way -- and they had a telescope capable of monitoring activity on Earth, they would right now be watching the early decades of the Italian Renaissance . . . in real time. Now how cool is that!

After all, stars are people too!