Upsilon Scorpii

υ Scorpii
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0
Constellation Scorpius
Right ascension 17h 30m 45.8s
Declination -37° 17' 45"
Apparent magnitude (V) 2.70
Distance 519 ± 67 ly
(159 ± 20 pc)
Spectral type B2IV
Other designations
34 Scorpii, HIP 85696

Upsilon Scorpii (υ Sco, υ Scorpii) is a star in the constellation Scorpius. It has the traditional name Lesath (alternative spellings Leschath, Lesuth), from Arabic las'a = "pass (or bite) of a poisonous animal"; but this is a miscorrection by Scaliger (a European astronomer who knew Arabic) for earlier "Alascha", which came from Arabic al laţkha = "the foggy patch", referring to the nearby open cluster M7.

It has apparent magnitude +2.7 and belongs to spectral class B2. It is approximately 519 light years from Earth. The star's luminosity is 12,300 times that of the Sun while its surface temperature measure in at 22,400 kelvins. The star has a radius of 7.5 times solar and a mass of 10 solar masses. Given its mass it is likely that υ Sco will end its life as a massive white dwarf.

Contents

Ancient culture

Together with λ Sco (Shaula), Lesath is listed in MUL.APIN as dSharur4 u dShargaz, meaning "Sharur and Shargaz".[1]

Namesakes

USS Lesuth (AK-125) was a United States Navy Crater class cargo ship named after the star.

References

  1. ^ Rogers, J. H. (February 1998). "Origins of the ancient constellations: I. The Mesopotamian traditions". Journal of the British Astronomical Association, no.1 108: 9–28. Bibcode 1998JBAA..108....9R. 

External links