Arcturus (Ἀρκτοῦρος)

Arcturus is a reddish star, yet it twinkles in many colours - even when high above the horizon and in a rather dark landscape.

Arcturus (Ἀρκτοῦρος) is a modern star name adopted by the International Astronomical Union in the IAU-Catalog of Star Names (IAU-CSN). Its origin is Greek. It is the name of HIP69673 (α Boo, HR 5340) in constellation Boo.

An ancient Greek name, meaning "The Guard".

Etymology and History

Spelling Variants

• Arkturus, Arkturos (closer to the Greek original)

Folk Etymology

Since Early Modern times, popularly connected to the Greek word Άρκτος, "bear," which also came to mean "north". Then, meaning can ambiguously be "Guardian of the North" and "Guardian of the Bear", referring to the nearby constellation Ursa Major.

IAU Working Group on Star Names

The name was discussed and approved by the IAU WGSN in 2016.

Weblinks

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

Reference

• References (general)
• References (early modern)[