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Hi Shaula,
I'm Neal Turner, a graduate student at Lick Observatory,
writing to answer your question about the star Shaula.
To answer your question I had a look in a famous book which
many amateur astronomers know and love, called "Burnham's Celestial
Handbook". Under the constellation Scorpio, I found this entry:
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Shaula, 24th brightest star in the sky, also called "The Sting"
The name is thought to be derived from the Arabic Al Shaula, "The
Sting", though Al Biruni... gave the source as the word Mushalah,
which appears to mean "Raised", evidently referring to the position of
the Scorpion's sting. The Coptic Minamref and the Babylonian Sarur
refer to Lambda and Upsilon together. These two bright stars... mark
the end of Scorpio's tail.
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"Burnham's Celestial Handbook" is by Robert Burnham, Jr. It comes as
a three volume set, published by Dover Publications in New York, 1978.
I hope this begins to answer your questions. Please write if
you have more!
Regards,
-Neal.
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