MDDM Ch. 7 - Shaula

Otto o.sell at telda.net
Wed Oct 10 04:04:39 CDT 2001


jbor:
>
> What is the second altitude of Shaula? (71.6, 72.15)
>

"(...) the zenith-Star of the cape, Shaula, the Sting of the Tail of the
Scorpion, (...)" (62)

Fixed star:  SHAULA
Constellation:  Lambda Scorpius
Longitude 1900:  23SAG11. Longitude 2000:  24SAG35.
Declination 1900:  -37.02'. Declination 2000:  -37.05'.
Right ascension:  17h33m. Latitude:  -13.47'.
Spectral class:  B2. Magnitude:  1.63 variable.
Suggested orb: 1 deg. approx. Planetary nature: Mer-Mar

History of the star: This star can be read with upsilon (Lesath) both are
close together in the Sting of the Scorpion, Scorpius.

Shaula from Arabic Ash-Shaulah (1), or Al Shaulah "The raised tail of the
scorpion"; from Mushalah, "Raised", referring to the position of the sting
ready to strike. These words have been confused with the names for the
adjoining upsilon (Lesath), and in the course of time corrupted to Shauka,
Alascha, Mosclek, and Shomlek from Mosclek, which signifies the bending of
the tail.

Lamda (Shaula) and upsilon (Lesath) were the Arabic 17th manzil, Al Shaulah
[Influences: Helps in besieging cities, taking towns, driving men from their
places, destruction of seamen and captives. With Moon transiting here; buy
cattle, hunt but do not marry. (Robson)].

These two stars were the Hindu nakshatra Vicritau, the "Two Releasers",
perhaps from the Vedic opinion that they brought relief from lingering
disease. Some Hindu authorities, taking in all the stars from epsilon to
upsilon, called the whole Mula, the "Root", with the divine Nirrity,
Calamity, as regent of the asterism, which was represented as a Lion's Tail;
this title appearing also for stars of Sagittarius. [Influences: favorable
for punishment, imprisonment, exorcism, mesmerism and separation or union
when containing the Moon. Those born on the lunar day will be druggists,
dealers in flowers and fruit, rich and fond of gardening. With Moon
transiting here at birth native will be conceited, wealthy, luxurious,
kind-hearted, happy and resolute. (Robson)].

In Coptic Egypt lamda and upsilon (Lesath) were Minamref, the Sting; and, on
the Euphrates, Sarur.

Iota, kappa, lamda (this star Shaula), theta (Sargas) and upsilon (Lesath),
were the Girtab of the Euphratean lunar zodiac, the Vanant of Persia and
Vanand of Sogdiana, all meaning the "Seizer," "Smiter," or "Stinger "; but
the Persian and Sogdian words generally are used for our Regulus.
In Khorasmia these stars were Khachman, the "Curved".
Naturally it was an unlucky star with astrologers. (Allen).
Influence of the constellation: The Scorpion is associated with the Hebrew
letter Oin and the 16th Tarot Trump "The Lightning-Struck Tower". (Robson).
General influence of the star: It gives danger, desperation, immorality and
malevolence, and is connected with acid poisons. (Robson).
http://www.winshop.com.au/annew/Shaula.html

an image:
http://spacekids.hq.nasa.gov/osskids/gallery/view.cfm?uid=485

SHAULA (Lambda Scorpii). In temperate northern summers, Scorpius glides
above the southern horizon, its lower curved tail almost out of sight, while
in the temperate southern winter, the constellation passes high overhead. At
the end of the tail lies a pair of stars that represent the scorpion's
"stinger," once called Shaula, from Arabic meaning exactly that. In more
modern times the name moved to the brighter of the pair, the fainter now
called Lesath. Even though Bayer gave Shaula the lowly Lambda (the 11th
letter of the Greek alphabet) designation (probably because of its far
southern position) the star is the second brightest in the constellation,
following Antares. At bright second magnitude (1.63), it is the 24th
brightest star in the sky. Of second magnitude stars, only Castor in Gemini
is brighter. Though the stinger stars appear close together, only half a
degree apart, they are not a real couple, Shaula lying at a distance of 700
light years, Lesath closer at 520. However both stars and several others in
southern Scorpius do belong to the huge nearby "Scorpius OB1 association,"
an expanding disintegrating group of hot stars that were all born about the
same time. Shaula is a hot class B star with a temperature around 25,000
Kelvin, over four times hotter than the Sun. Its distance, apparent
brightness, and temperature (from which we find the amount of invisible
ultraviolet radiation), shows it to radiate some 35,000 times more energy
than our Sun. Shaula, however, is a close double made of roughly similar hot
stars with an orbital period of 5.9 days, so the luminosity of the brighter
component shines some 18,000 times solar. There seems to be a third, more
distant companion as well, about which nothing is known (showing how little
we understand some stars). Shaula is an unusually strong source of
low-energy X-rays, which also suggests a third component, possibly a white
dwarf. Shaula is classed as a "subgiant," telling us that hydrogen fusion in
the core of the main component is shutting down or has shut down altogether.
With a mass around 11 times that of the Sun, the star may explode or more
likely turn into a rare, heavy white dwarf, possibly one with a neon-oxygen
core. Like Mirzam, Shaula is a subtle variable of the "Beta Cephei" type,
changing its brightness by less than a tenth of a magnitude with two periods
of 0.21 and 0.11 days going on at the same time, the variation the result of
internal structural changes that no one understands very well.
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/shaula.html

Otto






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