Scutum was named in 1684 by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius, who originally named it Scutum Sobiescianum to commemorate the victory of the Christian forces led by Polish King John III Sobieski in the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Later, the name was shortened to Scutum. Five bright stars of Scutum were previously known as 1, 6, 2, 3, and 9 Aquilae respectively. Coincidentally, the Chinese also associated these stars with battle armor, incorporating them into the larger asterism known as Tien Pien, i.e., the Heavenly Casque.
Features
Stars
Scutum is not a bright constellation, with the brightest star, Alpha Scuti, at magnitude 3.85. But some stars are notable in the constellation. Beta Scuti is the second brightest at magnitude 4.22, followed by Delta Scuti at magnitude 4.72. Beta Scuti is a binary system, with the primary with a spectral type similar to the Sun, although it is 1,270 times brighter. Delta Scuti is a bluish white giant star, which is now coming at the direction of the Solar System. Within 1.3 million years it will come as close to 10 light years from Earth, and will be much brighter than Sirius by that time. UY Scuti is a red supergiant pulsating variable star and is also one of the largest stars currently known with a radius over 1,500 times that of the Sun.
Deep sky objects
Although not a large constellation, Scutum contains several open clusters, as well as a globular cluster and a planetary nebula. The two best known deep sky objects in Scutum are M11 and the open clusterM26. The globular cluster NGC 6712 and the planetary nebula IC 1295 can be found in the eastern part of the constellation, only 24 arcminutes apart. The most prominent open cluster in Scutum is the Wild Duck Cluster, M11. It was named by William Henry Smyth in 1844 for its resemblance in the eyepiece to a flock of ducks in flight. The cluster, 6200 light-years from Earth and 20 light-years in diameter, contains approximately 3000 stars, making it a particularly rich cluster. It is 220 million years old.
Space exploration
The space probe Pioneer 11 is moving in the direction of this constellation. It will not be nearing the closest star in this constellation for over a million years at present speed, by which time its batteries will be long dead.
