Meissa
Meissa 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 HIP26207 (λ Ori, HR 1879) in constellation Ori.
Etymology and History
From the ind-A name al-maisan, for either γ or ξ Gem. The meaning of the name is uncertain. It may mean "the Sparkling One," referring to a star, or "the Proudly Marching One," referring to a person. Together, γ and ξ Gem composed the ind-A 6th lunar mansion alhan'a. The nearby stars λ, ϕ1, and ϕ2 Ori composed the adjacent 5th lunar mansion al-haq'a. Due to confusion between these two parent lunar mansions in a late Arabic source, "Meissa" was wrongly applied to λ Ori (rather than to γ or ξ Gem) in recent times. "Meissa" (without n at the end) corresponds to ind-A almaisa', a variant form of al-maisan.
Mythology
IAU Working Group on Star Names
The name was adopted by the IAU WGSN on 2016/07/20.
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.
