Alshain

Alshain is a proper name that appears in both historical astronomy and modern fictional works as a designation associated with the sky, most often in connection with the constellation Libra. In real-world astronomy, Alshain is not an official IAU designation for a single star. Instead, it occurs in certain traditional Arab and medieval star-name traditions as a name that has been attributed to stars in the Libra region. Because medieval and early modern sources did not standardize names in the way contemporary catalogs do, the exact star or stars referred to by Alshain vary between manuscripts and later reference works.

The etymology and precise interpretation of Alshain are uncertain. Arabic astronomical nomenclature frequently relied on descriptive phrases and bynames, and as a result, modern scholars sometimes assign different identifications to the name. Consequently, some sources have linked Alshain with bright Libra stars such as those now designated Zubeneschamali (Alpha Librae) or Zubenelgenubi (Beta Librae), but there is no universal agreement among authorities.

In contemporary usage, the name persists mainly in encyclopedic references and in fictional or speculative settings, where Alshain is often used as the name of a star, planet, or spacefaring location. In these contexts, it is typically treated as a conventional or imaginative designation rather than a precise astronomical object with fixed coordinates.

See also: Zubeneschamali, Zubenelgenubi, Libra (constellation).