Mirfak

Mirfak 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 HIP 15863 (α Per, HR 1017) in constellation Per.

Etymology and History

Applied in recent times from an abbreviation of its ind-A name mirfaq al-thurayya, "the Elbow of the Pleiades", for its location in the ind-A asterism here.

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.