La Superba

La Superba is a modern star name adopted by the International Astronomical Union in the IAU-Catalog of Star Names (IAU-CSN). Its origin is Latin. It is the name of HIP62223 (Y CVn, HR 4846) in constellation CVn.

Etymology and History

In 1868 Secchi used "superba" as an adjective to describe the star Y CVn, not as a proper name of the star. However, in 1876 Birmingham seems to have borrowed from Secchi this term and used it as a proper name of the star. As a consequence, in 1877 Secchi himself adopted the same name. Agnes Clerke attributed the term to Secchi, without distinguishing between the adjective and the name. In principle, it should be attributed to both Secchi and Birmingham, in my opinion.

IAU Working Group on Star Names

The name was adopted by the IAU WGSN on 2018/08/10.

Weblinks

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

Reference

• References (general)
• Email from Ileana Chinnici, biographer of Secchi, to Ian Ridpath 2024 October 14.