Libra constellation in the zodiac lies in between those of Virgo and Scorpius, Virgo lying to its west and Scorpius to the east. It is not a very bright constellation as there are no first magnitude stars in it.
The brightest stars in Libra form a quadrangle and are named alpha Librae, beta Librae, gamma Librae, and sigma Librae; the last one formerly known as gamma Scorpii although it never was in the territory of Scorpius. It was only in 1851 that Benjamin A. Gould renamed it rightly as sigma Librae with which it is known today.
Libra also houses a planetary system comprising the star named Gliese 581 that consists of 4 planets revolving round it. Out of them Gliese 581 c seems to have earth-like conditions in order to hypothesize likelihood of life outside of the Solar System. Another smaller planet Gliese 581 e also seems to be able to sustain life on it.
Libra represented by a balance is the only sign depicting an inanimate object as opposed to all the rest of them representing animate beings whether animals or humans. In earlier times even Libra was represented not by a balance, but as the claws of a scorpion. But now it is depicted as the scales held by Astraea (identified as Virgo), the goddess of justice.
Libra in Latin means weighing scales, which makes its symbol looking like 
portraying the scales held by Astraea, the goddess of justice.
Alpha and beta Librae are picturized as representing the scales' balance beam, and gamma and sigma are the weighing pans.
As of 2002, the Sun appears in the Libra constellation from October 31 to November 22. In tropical astrology, the Sun is considered to be in the constellation from August 23 to October 23, and in sidereal astrology, from October 16 to November 15. That is how these stars affect people born during this period and make the constellations their zodiac signs.
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