A bright star in the constellation Aquila (the Eagle), one of the components of the asterism known as the Summer Triangle.
From Arabic 'al-shāin' or similar, meaning 'the shining one' or related to Arabic star nomenclature. Medieval Islamic astronomers named many stars, and their Arabic names were preserved when Europeans translated astronomical texts.
Many star names we use today—like Alshain, Betelgeuse, and Altair—are Arabic because medieval Islamic scholars preserved Greek astronomy when Europe lost it, and we still use their naming system!
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