Cebalrai
From All Skies Encyclopaedia
Cebalrai 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 HIP86742 (β Oph, HR 6603) in constellation Oph.
Etymology and History
Applied in recent times from its ind-A name kalb al-ra'i, "the Shepherd's Dog" (in other traditions α Her and 28/29 Cep are given the same name). This dog, together with the shepherd (marked by α Oph), and the two lines of stars enclosing the Pasture, and all the dim stellar sheep in that portion of the sky (al-ghanam or al-aghnam for the sheep), seem to form a complete group of ind-A figures.
Mythology
IAU Working Group on Star Names
The name was adopted by the IAU WGSN on 2016/08/21.
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.