Article
Article
Libra
Article By:
Pasachoff, Jay M. Hopkins Observatory, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.380400
The Scales, a southern zodiacal constellation (see illustration). It has no bright stars. Traditional pictures show a set of scales (a balance) with pans held by chains. Perhaps its name comes from the nearby constellation Virgo, who was the goddess of justice and who would have used scales to balance good and evil deeds. Also, the autumnal equinox, with daytime and nighttime of equal length, used to occur in Libra, though the precession of the equinoxes has moved that point to Virgo. See also: Equinox; Precession of equinoxes; Virgo; Zodiac
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