Shaula, a blue subgiant star in Scorpius
Shaula is a blue subgiant star in the constellation Scorpius. At 559 light years away, it is the 26th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 1.62.
Shaula (HIP 85927)
Shaula is a blue subgiant star in the constellation Scorpius. At 559 light years away, it is the 26th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 1.62. Shaula is the primary component of a multiple-star system and an intrinsic variable star that varies between magntitudes 1.5 and 1.56 over a period of 5.04 hours. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 26.2 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 18,800 and 23,700 light years from the center of the Galaxy.
Sky position: RA 17h 33.6m, Dec -37° 6'
Common designations: Shaula, Lambda Scorpii, 35 Scorpii, HIP 85927, HD 158926, HR 6527
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Brightest stars in Scorpius:
(list all)
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 1 | 1.06 | Antares |
2
| 1.62
) Shaula
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 3 | 1.86 | Sargas |
| 4 | 2.29 | Dschubba |
| 5 | 2.29 | Epsilon Scorpii |
| 6 | 2.39 | Kappa Scorpii |
| 7 | 2.56 | Graffias |
| 8 | 2.70 | Lesath |
| 9 | 2.82 | Alniyat |
| 10 | 2.89 | Pi Scorpii |
| 11 | 2.90 | Alniyat |
| 12 | 2.99 | Iota-1 Scorpii |
| 13 | 3.00 | Mu-1 Scorpii |
| 14 | 3.19 | G Scorpii |
| 15 | 3.32 | Eta Scorpii |
| 16 | 3.56 | Mu-2 Scorpii |
| 17 | 3.62 | Grafias |
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.
Galactic Orbit of Shaula
(compared to the Sun)
E
ccentricity: 11.5% vs. 16.0%Angle φ : 162.8°vs. 26.0°
Semi-major axis : 6,522 pc vs. 8,686 pc
Semi-minor axis: 6,479 pc vs. 8,574 pc
Focus-to-center
: 750 pcvs. 1,388 pcSemilatus rectum : 6,435 pc vs. 8,464 pc
Perigalacticon: 5,771 pc vs. 7,297 pc
Apogalacticon
: 7,272 pcvs. 10,074 pcSome Tabulated XHIP Data for Shaula
(see also: SIMBAD)
Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V
| Position | Proper Motion | |
| Right Ascension: | 263.40219318° ±0.66 mas | -8.53 ±1.08 mas/yr. |
| Declination: | -37.10374869° ±0.50 mas | -30.80 ±0.62 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Longitude: | 351.74443016° | -30.50 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Latitude: | -2.21434056° | -9.56 mas/yr. |
Parallax: 5.71 ± 0.75 mas
Spectrography
Spectral Type: B1.5 IV + B 1982MSS...C03....0H.
Radial Velocity: -3.00 ±2.80 km/s [A rating] 2006AstL...32..759G.
Iron Abundance [Fe/H]:
n/a
Photometry
band
magnitude
Abs. Mag.
U
0.52
-5.65
B
1.39
-4.78
V
1.62
-4.55
R
I
1.85
-4.33
J
2.01
-4.16
H
2.07
-4.10
K
2.11
-4.06
B-V: -0.23 V-I: -0.23
Derivations
Heliocentric distance: 171.58 pc (13.1% margin of error)
Galactocentric distance: 7,230 pc
Transverse velocity: 26.0 km/s
3D heliocentric position and motion:
|
toward: |
Galactic center | Galactic rotation | North Galactic Pole |
| Position ( X, Y, Z) | 169.7 pc | -24.6 pc | -6.6 pc |
| Velocity (U, V, W) | -6.8 km/s | -24.1 km/s | -7.7 km/s |