Editing Ophiuchus (section)

==Location==
[[File:Guisard - Milky Way.jpg|thumbnail|left|upright=1.2|[[Rho Ophiuchi]], shown with a surrounding bluish cloud slightly above a pentagon of stars in Scorpius, with the main band of the Milky Way much further to the left]]
Ophiuchus lies between [[Aquila (constellation)|Aquila]], [[Serpens]], [[Scorpius]], [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]], and [[Hercules (constellation)|Hercules]], northwest of the center of the [[Milky Way]]. The southern part lies between [[Scorpius]] to the west and [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]] to the east.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Nightwatch A practical Guide to Viewing the Universe Revised Fourth Edition: Updated for use Through 2025 |last=Dickinson |first=Terence |publisher=Firefly Books |isbn=1-55407-147-X |location=US |pages=185 |year=2006}}</ref> In the [[northern hemisphere]], it is best visible in summer.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Nightwatch A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe Revised Fourth Edition: Updated for Use Through 2025 |last=Dickinson |first=Terence |publisher=Firefly Books|isbn=1-55407-147-X |location=US |pages=44–59 |year=2006}}</ref> It is opposite of [[Orion (constellation)|Orion]]. Ophiuchus is depicted as a man grasping a [[Serpens|serpent]]; the interposition of his body divides the snake constellation Serpens into two parts, [[Serpens Caput]] and [[Serpens Cauda]]. Ophiuchus straddles the equator with the majority of its [[solid angle|area]] lying in the southern hemisphere. [[Rasalhague]], its brightest star, lies near the northern edge of Ophiuchus at about {{dec|+12|30}} declination.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://in-the-sky.org/data/object.php?id=TYC1000-2508-1 |title=Rasalhague (Star) |last=Ford |first=Dominic |website=in-the-sky.org |language=en |access-date=2018-06-23}}</ref> The constellation extends southward to −30°&nbsp;declination. Segments of the ecliptic within Ophiuchus are south of −20°&nbsp;declination (see chart at right).

In contrast to Orion, from November to January (summer in the Southern Hemisphere, winter in the Northern Hemisphere), Ophiuchus is in the daytime sky and thus not visible at most latitudes. However, for much of the polar region north 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 spring and summer months, when Ophiuchus is normally visible in the night sky, the constellation is actually not visible, because the [[midnight sun]] obscures the stars at those times and places in the Arctic. In countries close to the equator, Ophiuchus appears overhead in June around midnight and in the October evening sky.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
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