Ophiuchus - Location

Location

Ophiuchus is located between Aquila, Serpens and Hercules, northwest of the center of the Milky Way. The southern part lies between Scorpius to the west and Sagittarius to the east. In the northern hemisphere, it is best visible in summer. It is located opposite Orion in the sky. Ophiuchus is depicted as a man grasping a serpent; the interposition of his body divides the snake constellation Serpens into two parts, Serpens Caput and Serpens Cauda, which are nonetheless counted as one constellation.

Ophiuchus straddles the equator but lies predominately to its south. Rasalhague, a fairly conspicuous star in its north, is circumpolar north of 78° north latitude and invisible south of 78° south latitude. The constellation extends southward to -30° declination, so the constellation can never be seen in full even in such places as Anchorage, Reykjavik, and Helsinki north of 60° north latitude. Segments of the ecliptic that lie within Ophiuchus lie south of -20° declination and are thus invisible north of 70° north latitude.

In contrast to Orion, it is in the period November–January (summer in the Southern Hemisphere, winter in the Northern Hemisphere) when Ophiuchus is in the daytime sky and thus not visible at most latitudes. However for much of the Arctic Circle in the Northern Hemisphere's winter months, the Sun is below the horizon even at midday. Stars (and thus parts of Ophiuchus, especially Rasalhague) are then visible at twilight for a few hours around local noon, low in the South. In the Northern Hemisphere's summer months, when Ophiuchus is normally visible in the night sky, the constellation is actually not visible in the Arctic Circle because the sun does not set at that time of year north of the Arctic Circle. In countries close to the equator Ophiuchus appears overhead in June around midnight and in the October evening sky.