# Shaula (Lambda Scorpii)

Shaula (Lambda Scorpii) is a star in the constellation Scorpius, magnitude 1.6.

**The sting in the Scorpion’s tail — three stars born together, one of them bound for a supernova.**

Shaula, the Scorpion’s sting, is three stars in one. The main star is a hot blue giant of 14.5 solar masses. A second blue star of 10.6 solar masses circles it every 1,053 days, while a small, still-forming young star whips round in just six days. All three orbit in the same plane — a strong sign that they were born together, only 10 to 13 million years ago.

The main star flickers by about a hundredth of a magnitude, a [variable star](https://astropilot.space/glossary/variable-star) of the Beta Cephei type, and it is heavy enough to end its life as a supernova. Its name comes from the Arabic al-shawlā’, ‘the raised tail’. In Indian astronomy it belongs to Mula, ‘the root’, a lunar mansion symbolised by a bundle of tied roots.

Shaula (Lambda Scorpii) is 570 light-years away: the light we see from it set off around 1455, around the time Gutenberg printed his Bible.

## Did you know?

- **Sharur and Shargaz.** The Babylonian star compendium MUL.APIN lists Shaula and its neighbour Lesath as Sharur and Shargaz. The Boorong people of Victoria saw the same pair as Karik Karik, the Falcons.
- **On Brazil’s flag.** Shaula appears on the flag of Brazil, where it stands for the state of Rio Grande do Norte.

A bright blue-white star at the curled tip of the Scorpion’s tail, the stinger. Fainter Lesath sits just beside it, making a close, eye-catching pair. Sweep binoculars around them for the rich Milky Way star fields.

## When and where to see it

It is best placed in the evening sky around July, when it crosses the meridian at about 10 pm local time (around midnight in June). It can be seen from everywhere south of 53°N and never sets south of 53°S.

At its highest it stands 3° up from 50°N, 18° up from 35°N, 53° up from the equator, 88° up from 35°S.

## Facts

- Type: Star
- Constellation: Scorpius
- Designations: Lambda Scorpii, λ Sco, 35 Sco, HR 6527, HD 158926, HIP 85927
- Magnitude: 1.6
- Position: RA 17h 33.6m, Dec −37° 6′ (J2000)
- Spectral type: B2IV+DA7.9
- Colour: blue-white (B−V -0.14)
- Distance: 570 light-years
- Discovered: Known since antiquity

Open AstroPilot to see when Shaula (Lambda Scorpii) is highest tonight from your location, how easy it is with your telescope or binoculars, and an eyepiece view. https://astropilot.space/object/shaula