50 free Scorpio trivia questions with answers — science & nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Scorpio trivia quiz covers the eighth sign of the zodiac from every angle. The astrology questions ask about the scorpion's dates, its classical ruler Mars and modern ruler Pluto, its water element and fixed modality, its opposite sign Taurus, its colours and its polarity, plus the awkward fact that the Sun spends only six days a year in the actual constellation because Ophiuchus takes the rest. The astronomy questions turn to Scorpius: Antares the rival of Mars, its hidden companion, Shaula and Lesath the stinging Cat's Eyes, Dschubba's sudden flare, the record-setting nova U Scorpii, the giant AH Scorpii, Messier 4, the Butterfly and Ptolemy clusters and the Bug Nebula. The mythology and folklore range from the scorpion Artemis sent to kill Orion and the one that spooked Phaethon's horses, to the Babylonian burning sting, Maui's fishhook in Hawaii, the leaning coconut tree of Java, the skate and shark stars of Bugis sailors and the scorpion on the flag of Brazil. A few questions cover the real animal, from its Silurian ancestry to its glow under ultraviolet light, plus the goddess Serket and the November birthstone. Difficulty runs from easy to expert and is shown on every question, so it suits a Scorpio birthday, a pub quiz or an astronomy night. Every answer was checked against a reference page and each question carries its citation. Try our Zodiac, Astrology and Planets quizzes next.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Scorpio is which sign in the order of the zodiac?
8th
It follows Libra and precedes Sagittarius, covering the heart of autumn in the northern hemisphere.
Q 02What is the classical ruling planet of Scorpio?
Mars
Since the 20th century many astrologers have handed the job to Pluto, discovered in 1930.
Q 03Which body, discovered in 1930, do modern astrologers assign as Scorpio's ruler?
Pluto
Astrologers kept Pluto in charge even after astronomers demoted it to a dwarf planet in 2006.
Q 04Scorpio belongs to which element?
Water
Cancer and Pisces are the other two water signs.
Q 05What is Scorpio's modality?
Fixed
It is the third fixed sign after Taurus and Leo, sitting in the middle of autumn.
Q 06Which sign is opposite Scorpio on the zodiac wheel?
Taurus
Both are fixed signs; the bull and the scorpion face each other across the chart.
Q 07Under the tropical zodiac, the Sun is in Scorpio on average between which dates?
October 23 to November 21
The Sun is actually inside the constellation Scorpius for less than a week each year.
Q 08For how many days a year is the Sun actually within the IAU boundaries of the constellation Scorpius?
6
It runs from November 23 to 28, because the big constellation Ophiuchus takes up most of the rest of the stretch.
Q 09Which constellation, the so-called '13th sign', lies on the ecliptic between Scorpius and Sagittarius?
Ophiuchus
The serpent-bearer holds the Sun from about November 29 to December 18, but astrologers ignore it.
Q 10Someone born under Scorpio may be called a Scorpio or what other adjective?
Scorpionic
Depending on the zodiac system in use, either term is considered correct.
Q 11Scorpio belongs to which polarity group?
Negative (feminine)
The even-numbered signs, the earth and water triplicities, are the negative or receptive ones.
Q 12According to The Astrology Bible, which of these is one of Scorpio's colours?
Maroon
Deep red, black and brown round out the sign's palette.
Q 13Which two constellations flank Scorpius in the zodiac?
Libra and Sagittarius
The scales to the west were once considered its claws.
Q 14What colour does Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius, appear to the naked eye?
Q 21Which two stars at the tip of the scorpion's tail both have names meaning 'sting'?
Shaula and Lesath
Because they sit so close together they are nicknamed the Cat's Eyes.
Q 22What nickname do the close pair of tail-tip stars Lambda and Upsilon Scorpii share?
The Cat's Eyes
Shaula, the brighter, is one of the brightest stars in the sky despite lacking a Bayer 'alpha'.
Q 23The bright stars of Scorpius are said to trace what everyday object?
A longshoreman's hook
In Hawaii the same shape is read as the demigod Maui's fishhook.
Reddish
It is a red supergiant so large it would swallow the orbit of Mars if it replaced the Sun.
Q 15What does the name Antares mean?
Rival of Ares (Mars)
Its ruddy colour is easily mistaken for the planet Mars when the two are near each other.
Q 16Roughly how far away is Antares?
550 light-years
It is the brightest member of the Scorpius–Centaurus association, the nearest group of hot young stars to the Sun.
Q 17If Antares replaced the Sun, roughly how far out would its surface extend?
Into the asteroid belt
That makes it one of the largest stars visible to the naked eye, with 13 to 16 times the Sun's mass.
Q 18Antares is actually a binary; its faint companion is what kind of object?
A hot main-sequence star
The companion, magnitude 5.5, is drowned out by the supergiant and was only confirmed during lunar occultations in the 1800s.
Q 19Which planet last passed in front of Antares, in 525 BC, and will next do so in 2400?
Venus
The star lies 4.57 degrees south of the ecliptic, so most planets pass north of it.
Q 20In Mesopotamian astronomy, Antares was always called what?
Heart of Scorpion
It was linked with the goddess Lisin; the 'rival of Mars' idea is Greek, not Babylonian.
Q 24What does the name of Delta Scorpii, Dschubba, mean?
The forehead
The star flared unexpectedly in July 2000 and has been variable ever since.
Q 25U Scorpii holds what record among stellar explosions?
Fastest known recurrent nova
It flares up roughly every 10 years and then fades within days.
Q 26AH Scorpii, one of the largest stars known, is roughly how many times the Sun's size?
1,400
It is 340,000 times brighter than the Sun yet too faint to see without a telescope because it is so far away.
Q 27Which globular cluster near Antares was the first to have its individual stars resolved?
Messier 4
It is one of the closest globular clusters to Earth and shows a curious bar of stars across its core.
Q 28M6 in Scorpius is nicknamed after which creature?
A butterfly
Its neighbour M7 is the Ptolemy Cluster, which the ancient astronomer recorded with the naked eye.
Q 29Which object in Scorpius, M7, is named after the ancient astronomer who recorded it?
The Ptolemy Cluster
It is one of the few deep-sky objects mentioned in classical antiquity.
Q 30NGC 6302 in Scorpius, a bipolar cloud of gas shed by a dying star, is known by which insect nickname?
The Bug Nebula
Its neighbour NGC 6334 is the Cat's Paw Nebula, a star-forming region.