Star profile
Lesath
Upsilon Scorpii · Scorpius
Hot blue starWhat is Lesath
Lesath sits at the Scorpion's stinger, beside Shaula, forming what the ancients called 'the cat's eyes'. A hot blue star burning at 576 light-years, her light departed when the Catholic Monarchs were signing the Capitulations of Granada. The name derives from the Arabic «al-laṣʿa», the sting: a precise word for a star that emerges exactly where mythological venom should rise.
Where it is and when to see it
Lesath lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is June, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 1° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 12° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 87° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 53° N.
It ranks no. 8 in brightness among the 104 stars of Scorpius in our catalogue. To find it, start from Antares, the brightest: it lies about 17° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 580 years ago.
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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Lesath
- Constellation
- Scorpius
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.70
- Distance
- 576.3 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 262.691° · Dec -37.296°
- Catalogue
- HIP 85696 · HD 158408
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Scorpius
Scorpius has 104 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AntaresAlpha Scorpii1.06
- ShaulaLambda Scorpii1.62
- SargasTheta Scorpii1.86
- LarawagEpsilon Scorpii2.29
- Kappa Scorpii2.39
- AcrabBeta 1 Scorpii2.56
- PaikauhaleTau Scorpii2.82
- FangPi Scorpii2.89