Scutum
Origin
The constellation Scutum, often referred to as the Shield, is one of the few constellations not inspired by classical Greek or Roman mythology; unusually, it commemorates a historical event. Scutum was introduced in the seventeenth century by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius to honor King John III Sobieski of Poland. Sobieski is celebrated for his pivotal role in the Battle of Vienna in 1683 when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's forces, under his command, helped repel the Ottoman Empire's siege of the city. Hevelius, in gratitude for Sobieski's military achievement, named the constellation Scutum Sobiescianum, meaning Sobieski's Shield, in honor of the king's decisive role in defending Christian Europe from Ottoman expansion. This makes Scutum a rare example of a constellation celebrating a historical figure and a significant event in European history.
Bright Stars
Scutum isn't known for its bright stars; it's a relatively faint and small constellation. The brightest star in Scutum is Alpha Scuti, which has an apparent magnitude of around 3.85. While it is the brightest star in the constellation, it is not particularly bright when compared to stars in more prominent constellations.
Photo of the constellation Scutum produced by NOIRLab in collaboration with Eckhard Slawik, a German astrophotographer.
The annotations are from a standardized set of 88 western IAU constellations and stick figures from Sky & Telescope. Please find here a non-annotated version of the image.
Credit: E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani
Latin name
English name
Scutum
Pronunciation
SCOOT-um
Abbreviation
Sct
Notable Objects
Messier 11 (the Wild Duck Cluster): Messier 11 is an open star cluster and one of the most famous objects in Scutum. It's named the Wild Duck Cluster because some of its brighter stars form a V-shape resembling a flock of ducks in flight. This cluster is an excellent target for small telescopes.
Messier 26: Messier 26 is another open star cluster in Scutum, although it's less well-known than Messier 11. It is relatively easy to find and can be observed with small telescopes.
