Definition of Ophiuchus
astronomy
: a large northern constellation that is visible between the constellations of Scutum and Hercules and that is represented by the figure of a man grasping a snake (the constellation Serpens)
- Thomas Greene of the University of Hawaii and Charles Lada of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory have studied five protostars in Ophiuchus, each about 100,000 years old.
- —Astronomy, September 1997
