- In ancient Greek times, the area of sky we know as Libra was occupied by the claws of the scorpion, Scorpius. Aratus and Eratosthenes, among others, called this area Χηλαί (Chelae), literally meaning ‘claws’, an identification that lives on in the names of the individual stars of Libra (see below). As things have worked out, Libra is now a slightly larger constellation than Scorpius, but is much less conspicuous.
passage through the ecliptic