The Fixed Stars

Tabit

Tabit, Pi3 Orionis, 1 Orionis

From the Arabic, taken to mean the endurer or the one who holds fast. It stands at about 15° Gemini (tropical).

The one named star of the shield, holding the hide steady against the Bull.

Tabit is the brightest star in the curved line of the lion's hide, or bow, that Orion lifts in his left hand toward Taurus, and the only one of the shield stars to carry a proper name. It is a yellow-white star close to the Sun both in kind and in distance. The Arabic name is old and its exact sense uncertain; it is not delineated for planetary nature in Robson.

The one named star of the shield arc; no strong traditional delineation attaches to it beyond its place in the figure.