Caph

Caph is a modern star name adopted by the International Astronomical Union in the IAU-Catalog of Star Names (IAU-CSN). Its origin is Arabic. It is the name of HIP746 (β Cas, HR 21) in constellation Cas.

Etymology and History

Applied in recent times from an abbreviation of its ind-A name al-kaff al-khadib "the Stained Hand," alternatively and more correctly used for all the brighter stars of today's Cassiopeia (probably α, β, γ, δ, and ε). The ind-A figure here represented a hand with its finger-tips stained reddish-brown in the traditional Eastern way using henna leaves. al-kaff al-khatdib, in turn, was part of the larger ind-A asterism kaff althurayya al-yumna al-mabsuta, "the Outstretched Right Hand of the Pleiades." The latter extended from today's Taurus through Perseus into Cassiopeia. A second hand (the Pleiades were a "head" from which two arms or hands radiated) was al-kaff al-jadhma', "the Amputated Hand," in today's Cetus.

IAU Working Group on Star Names

The name was adopted by the IAU WGSN on 2016/06/30.

Weblinks

• Website of the IAU WGSN: https://exopla.net/

Reference

• References (general)
• 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.