Star profile
Shaula
Lambda Scorpii · Scorpius
Variable starWhat is Shaula
Shaula guards the Scorpion's stinger —a blue-white variable 571 light-years away, so hot its surface tops 20,000 degrees. Its name comes from the Arabic «al-šawlā», the raised tail poised to strike, and together with neighbouring Lesath it forms the double gleam that has drawn the gaze toward the galactic core for millennia. The light gathered tonight set out before the first Gutenberg Bible was printed in Europe.
Where it is and when to see it
Shaula 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: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
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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 Shaula
- Constellation
- Scorpius
- Apparent magnitude
- 1.62
- Distance
- 571.3 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 263.402° · Dec -37.104°
- Catalogue
- HIP 85927 · HD 158926
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
- SargasTheta Scorpii1.86
- DschubbaDelta Scorpii2.29
- LarawagEpsilon Scorpii2.29
- Kappa Scorpii2.39
- AcrabBeta 1 Scorpii2.56
- LesathUpsilon Scorpii2.70
- PaikauhaleTau Scorpii2.82