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Stars like Rigel have english names like "foot" , what about the rest of the star family?

2007-03-12 20:43:37 · 3 answers · asked by lamino 1 in Science & Mathematics Astronomy & Space

3 answers

Rigel doesn't have an English name "foot." What you may be referring to is that Rigel is an Anglicization of an Arabic word that means "foot." This is abbreviation from a longer Arabic name meaning "left foot of the central one," where "the central one" is God.

There are no official names for stars, but there are a number of recognized designations for some stars. Stars that were known in antiquity often have colloquial names, which in some cases do have meanings in foreign languages. Dimmer stars that were discovered more recently sometimes have systematic names; systematic names have also been applied to the brighter stars that were already known. One of the most common methods is the Bayer designation, which assigns a Greek or Latin letter or pair of letters and appends it to the name of the constellation in which it appears. The Greek letters are assigned in approximate brightness order, but also influenced by position. So "Alpha Centauri" means a star in Centaurus that is probably very bright and may be located near the top of the constellation. "Mu Lyrae" would be a star in Lyra that is not particularly bright.

2007-03-12 20:48:44 · answer #1 · answered by DavidK93 7 · 2 0

Here are some of the Arabic translations
Aldebaran - the follower
Algol - the ghoul
Altair - the flyer
Betelgeuse - the house of Gemini
Deneb - tail
Fomalhaut - mouth of the fish
Hamal - lamb
Rigel - the foot
Vega - The falling (eagle)

2007-03-13 08:36:04 · answer #2 · answered by Iridflare 7 · 0 0

Not all do...

2007-03-13 04:32:00 · answer #3 · answered by Apple Waffle 2 · 0 0

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