Lesath

The IAU catalogue's account

The formation of this name begins with the Greek term "(foggy) conglomeration," used by Ptolemy in the Tetrabiblos in describing several nebulous sky objects (in the present case, probably the open cluster M7). Ptolemy's term was translated by the Arabs as al-latkha, "the Spot." This word in turn became transliterated and corrupted in Medieval Latin to alascha, which was used in astrological texts in connection with Scorpius' tail. In Early Modern times, the derivation of alascha was erroneously attributed to the Arabic word las'a, "sting, or bite (of a poisonous animal)," rather than to al-latkha. Subsequently the erroneous word, written as "Lesath," was applied as a star name to u Sco (and in recent times, also to λ Sco).

Source language

Arabic

Reference

Kunitzsch, Paul; Smart, Tim (2006). A Dictionary of Modern star Names: A Short Guide to 254 Star Names and Their Derivations (2nd rev. ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Sky Pub.

Source: IAU Catalog of Star Names (IAU-CSN), Working Group on Star Names. The account is the IAU's own text and is quoted in full: it is published under CC BY.