Gomeisa
Authors: IAU-WGSN Etymology Group, Susanne M Hoffmann, Youla Azkarrula
| Asterism Info | |
| Native | الغميصاء |
|---|---|
| Translation | the Bleary-eyed one |
| Position (2000) | |
| Right ascension | 111.7876739 |
| Declination | 8.289315763 |
| Area | 0 sq. deg. |
| Stars | |
| Bright stars | 1 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars | 1 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 0 |
| Brightest star | Gomeisa (2.89m) |
| Taxonomy | |
| category of asterism | IAU-Star Name |
| IAU- constellations | CMi |
Gomeisa 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 36188 (β CMi, HR 2845) in constellation CMi.
Etymology and History
From the ind-A surname al-ghumaisa', "the Little Bleary-eyed One ('with a filthy fluid in the corner of the eye')", for α CMi. Wrongly transferred to β CMi in recent times. The original significance of the surname is unknown. Perhaps as an attempt to explain the significance of al-ghumaisa', as well as that of the surname al-<abur, "the One Having Crossed Over [a river, etc.]", for α CMa, an Arabic fable developed associating these and other equally enigmatic star names. According to one version of the fable, al-ghumaisa and ai-'abur were sisters, and their brother was suhail (α Car). Suhail, in turn, was the suitor of al-jauza' (the feminine ind-A figure in place of Orion). In coitus, suhail broke the spine of al-jauza', thus killing her, after which suhail fled south. He was followed by his sister al-'abur who "crossed over" the Milky Way (where the two stars now lie in the southern sky). Meanwhile suhail's second sister, al-ghumaisa, was left alone north of the Milky Way, weeping, until her "eyes became bleary". (The ind-A name for α CMa was al-shi'ra, of unknown meaning. Apparently it was developed into a dualis form, al-shi'rayan, to accommodate both α CMa and α CMi, with the aforementioned "surnames" distinguishing the two.)
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.
