Legend

To the ancient Babylonians, Libra represented scales or balance. This might be because the Sun was in front of the stars of Libra during their autumnal equinox, when days and nights were of equal length. To the Greeks, the stars of Libra were not their own constellation, but rather the claws of the scorpion Scorpio. The Romans resurrected the idea of Libra representing scales, and sometimes drew Virgo holding the scales, just like the goddess of justice.

The two brightest stars in Libra have interesting Arabic names — Zubenelgenubi, "the southern claw," and Zubenelchemale, "the northern claw."

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