Kappa Scorpii is a star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Scorpius

Scorpius

Scorpius, sometimes known as Scorpio, is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for scorpion, and its symbol is . It lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east...

. It has the traditional name Girtab, which is the Sumerian word for 'scorpion' and has survived through the Babylonian star catalogues

Babylonian star catalogues

Babylonian astronomy collated earlier observations and divinations into sets of Babylonian star catalogues, during and after the Kassite rule over Babylonia. These star catalogues, written in cuneiform script, contained lists of constellations, individual stars, and planets...

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The name Girtab is actually (or perhaps originally) applied to an asterism

Asterism (astronomy)

In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars recognized on Earth's night sky. It may form part of an official constellation, or be composed of stars from more than one. Like constellations, asterisms are in most cases composed of stars which, while they are visible in the same general direction,...

 comprising this star, Lambda Scorpii

Lambda Scorpii

Lambda Scorpii is the second brightest star system in the constellation Scorpius, and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. It has the Bayer designation λ despite being the second brightest in its constellation...

, Upsilon Scorpii

Upsilon Scorpii

Upsilon Scorpii is a star in the constellation Scorpius. It has the traditional name Lesath , from Arabic las'a = "pass of a poisonous animal"; but this is a miscorrection by Scaliger for earlier "Alascha", which came from Arabic al laţkha = "the foggy...

, and Iota Scorpii

Iota Scorpii

There are two stars with the Bayer designation Iota Scorpii:* Iota1 Scorpii* Iota2 ScorpiiThey are separated by 0.50° in the sky.All of them were member of asterism 尾 , Tail, Tail mansion....

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This star is a spectroscopic binary, and the primary is also a Beta Cephei variable

Beta Cephei variable

Beta Cephei variables are variable stars which exhibit variations in their brightness due to pulsations of the stars' surfaces. The point of maximum brightness roughly corresponds to the maximum contraction of the star. Typically, Beta Cephei variables change in brightness by 0.01 to 0.3...

-type pulsating star. Spectroscopic measurements have given an orbital period of 195 days. The pulsations have a primary component of 4.80 hours and a secondary period of 4.93 hours.