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	[[File:~~ribq_chart~~.png\|thumb\|''Al-Qaṭā'' with surrouding asterisms as described in Anwāʾ sources. (CC BY Khalid Al-Ajaji 2026).]]		[[File:Qata chart.png\|thumb\|''Al-Qaṭā'' with surrouding asterisms as described in Anwāʾ sources. (CC BY Khalid Al-Ajaji 2026).]]

	'''Al-Qaṭā''' (<span lang="ar" dir="rtl">ar\|القَطَا</span>, “the sandgrouse”) is a traditional Arabic asterism identified with a chain of faint stars extending from Microscopium through Piscis Austrinus, ending short of Fomalhaut.		'''Al-Qaṭā''' (<span lang="ar" dir="rtl">ar\|القَطَا</span>, “the sandgrouse”) is a traditional Arabic asterism identified with a chain of faint stars extending from Microscopium through Piscis Austrinus, ending short of Fomalhaut.

KhalidAlAjaji: Created page with "{{DISPLAYTITLE:Al-Qaṭā (القَطَا)}} Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}} ---- ''Al-Qaṭā'' with surrouding asterisms as described in Anwāʾ sources. (CC BY Khalid Al-Ajaji 2026). '''Al-Qaṭā''' (ar|القَطَا, “the sandgrouse”) is a traditional Arabic asterism identified with a chain of faint stars extending from Microscopium through Piscis Austrinus, ending short of Fomalhaut. ==Etymology== ''L..."

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Created page with "{{DISPLAYTITLE:Al-Qaṭā (القَطَا)}} Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}} ---- thumb|''Al-Qaṭā'' with surrouding asterisms as described in Anwāʾ sources. (CC BY Khalid Al-Ajaji 2026). '''Al-Qaṭā''' (ar|القَطَا, “the sandgrouse”) is a traditional Arabic asterism identified with a chain of faint stars extending from Microscopium through Piscis Austrinus, ending short of Fomalhaut. ==Etymology== ''L..."

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Al-Qaṭā (القَطَا)}}

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
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[[File:ribq_chart.png|thumb|''Al-Qaṭā'' with surrouding asterisms as described in Anwāʾ sources. (CC BY Khalid Al-Ajaji 2026).]]

'''Al-Qaṭā''' (ar|القَطَا, “the sandgrouse”) is a traditional Arabic asterism identified with a chain of faint stars extending from Microscopium through Piscis Austrinus, ending short of Fomalhaut.

==Etymology==

''Lisān al-ʿarab'' defines القَطَا, in باب الواو والياء فصل القاف, as follows:<ref name="lisan"/>
<blockquote>«والقَطَا: طَائِرٌ مَعْرُوفٌ، سُمِّيَ بِذَلِكَ لثِقَل مَشيْه، وَاحِدَتُهُ قَطاة.»</blockquote>
<blockquote> “''Al-qaṭā'': a well-known bird, so called because of the heaviness of its gait; its singular is ''qaṭāh''.”</blockquote>

The Arabic word ar|القَطَا denotes the sandgrouse, a desert bird traditionally famed for knowing the location of water. The name alludes to the birds’ manner of flight: they proceed in a strung-out succession, as expressed in Ibn Qutayba’s simile ar|كتقاطر القَطَا في طيرانها (“like sandgrouse following one another in their flight”).

== Sources ==

=== Ibn Qutayba ===

'''Ibn Qutayba (d. 276 AH / 889 CE)''' places al-Makākī east of al-Ṣurad al-Aʿlā, and al-Qaṭā above al-Makākī. He describes al-Qaṭā as faint stars arranged in succession, most of them in pairs:<ref name="qutayba"/>

<blockquote lang="ar" dir="rtl">
وعند الصُّرَدِ الأعلى مما يلي المشرق «المَكَاكِيُّ»، وهي تشبه كواكب الشَّرَاسِيفِ. و«القَطَا» فوق المَكَاكِيِّ، وهي كواكب متقاطرة كتقاطر القَطَا في طيرانها، غير نيرة، أكثرها كوكبان كوكبان.
</blockquote>

;English

<blockquote>
Near al-Ṣurad al-Aʿlā, on its eastern side, are al-Makākī, which resemble the stars of al-Sharāsīf. Above al-Makākī is al-Qaṭā: stars strung out one after another, like sandgrouse following one another in flight. They are not bright; most occur in pairs.
</blockquote>

=== Al-Marzūqī ===

'''Al-Marzūqī (d. 421 AH / 1030 CE)''' similarly calls al-Qaṭā stars arranged in succession like sandgrouse, but preserves a different reading of the final phrase:<ref name="marzuqi"/>

<blockquote lang="ar" dir="rtl">
وهنالك: القَطَا، وهي كواكب متقاطرة كتقاطر القَطَا، وهي كواكب غير نيّرة إلَّا كوكبان.
</blockquote>

;English

<blockquote>
There, too, is al-Qaṭā: stars strung out one after another like sandgrouse. They are faint stars, except for two.
</blockquot

=== Ibn al-Ṣūfī ===

'''Ibn al-Ṣūfī (d. after 400 AH / 1009 CE)''' in ''Urjūzat al-Kawākib'' provides the principal positional evidence. It places a strung and interlocked group of stars between al-Yamāmatān—four small stars at the tail of the Archer’s horse—and the star of al-Ḍifdiʿ, identified here with Fomalhaut. Some members lie on the body of the Southern Fish: its flank, breast, and back.<ref name="sufi1954"/>

<blockquote lang="ar" dir="rtl">
فَوْقَهُمَا كَوَاكِبٌ مُجْتَمِعَهْ ⁘ صَغِيرَةٌ عَدَدُهُنَّ أَرْبَعَهْ 
مِنْ عِنْدِهَا لِلطِّرْفِ يَنْشُو الذَّنَبُ ⁘ لَقَّبَهَا اليَمَامَتَيْنِ العَرَبُ 
وَبَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَ نَجْمِ الضِّفْدِعِ ⁘ وَهْوَ لِمَاءِ الدَّلْوِ عِنْدَ الـمَقْطَعِ 
كَوَاكِبٌ مَنْظُومَةٌ مُسْتَبِكَهْ ⁘ وَبَعْضُهُنَّ مِنْ نُجُومِ السَّمَكَهْ 
فِي جَنْبِهَا وَالصَّدْرِ مِنْهَا وَالـمَطَا ⁘ يَعْرِفُهَا الأَعْرَابُ طُرًّا بِالقَطَا
</blockquote>

;English
<blockquote>
Above them are a group of stars, 
small, four in number. 
From them, towards the extremity, the tail rises; 
the Arabs call them al-Yamāmatān. 
And between them and the star of al-Ḍifdiʿ— 
which is at the end of the water of al-Dalw, where it is poured out— 
are stars strung together and interwoven, 
some of them among the stars of the Fish, 
on its side, breast, and back; 
the Bedouin all know them as al-Qaṭā.
</blockquote>

In this passage, ar|المطا means “the back.” The description is significant because Ibn al-Ṣūfī gives no Arabic star names for the individual stars of Piscis Austrinus.

== Astronomical correspondence ==

The proposed chain satisfies four features of the textual descriptions.

* '''A strung line.''' Its declination range is only 2.1°, from −30.90° to −33.03°, while it extends about 29° in right ascension.
* '''Faintness.''' Its visual magnitudes range from 4.21 to 5.01; none is conspicuous compared with Fomalhaut.
* '''Pairs.''' Several consecutive members form close couples separated by wider intervals.
* '''Termination before Fomalhaut.''' δ Piscis Austrini is the eastern terminus of the proposed chain, while Fomalhaut remains distinct. This accounts for the description of al-Qaṭā as “not bright” despite its proximity to the brightest star in the region.

The close pairs support Ibn Qutayba’s wording ar|أكثرها كوكبان كوكبان (“most of them [are] two stars, two stars”).

== Textual reading ==

The accounts of Ibn Qutayba and al-Marzūqī preserve two readings:

{| class="wikitable"
! Source
! Reading
! Sense
|-
| Ibn Qutayba
| ar|أكثرها كوكبان كوكبان
| Most of them are in pairs
|-
| Al-Marzūqī
| ar|غير نيّرة إلّا كوكبان
| Not bright except for two stars
|}

Al-Marzūqī transmits the passage through Abū Ḥanīfa al-Dīnawarī in a continuous chain of attribution, so the readings represent independent branches of the tradition rather than a simple original-and-copyist relationship. The proposed stellar configuration favors Ibn Qutayba’s reading: the chain contains three close pairs separated by larger intervals, but no two stars visibly stand out in brightness from the remainder.

== Relation to neighbouring asterisms ==

Al-Qaṭā and [[Al-Riʾāl]] together form the southern boundary of [[Al-ʿĀna]].

== Identification ==

Al-Qaṭā is identified with a nearly level chain between declinations −31° and −33°, extending from γ Microscopii at the western end to δ Piscis Austrini at the eastern end. The chain stops about 3.3° short of [[Fomalhaut]] (α Piscis Austrini), which is treated as a separately named star.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Proposed members of al-Qaṭā
! Star
! Visual magnitude
|-
| γ Microscopii
| 4.65
|-
| ε Microscopii
| 4.71
|-
| ι Piscis Austrini
| 4.34
|-
| θ Piscis Austrini
| 5.01
|-
| μ Piscis Austrini
| 4.50
|-
| τ Piscis Austrini
| 4.92
|-
| β Piscis Austrini
| 4.29
|-
| γ Piscis Austrini
| 4.46
|-
| δ Piscis Austrini
| 4.21
|}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="lisan">لسان العرب، ابن منظور (توفي 711 هـ) 
Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711 AH/c. 1312 CE), ''Lisān al-ʿarab''</ref>
<ref name="qutayba">أبو محمد عبد الله بن مسلم ابن قتيبة الدينوري المتوفى سنة 276هـ - 879م، كتاب الأنواء في مواسم العرب، دائرة المعارف العثمانية، حيدر أباد، الهند، 1375 هـ - 1956م. 
Ibn Qutayba ad-Dīnawarī, abū Muḥammad ʿabd Allah b. Muslim. d. 276 AH / 879 CE, ''Kitābu'l-Anwāʾ (on Meteorology of the Arabs)'', Dairatu'l-Maʿarifi'l-Osmania, Hyderabad - India 1956 CE/1375 AH</ref>
<ref name="marzuqi">الإمام أبو علي أحمد بن محمد بن الحسن المرزوقي (توفي سنة 421 هـ)، الأزمنة والأمكنة، تحقيق د. محمد نايف الدليمي، عالم الكتب، بيروت، لبنان، 1422 هـ. 
Al-Marzūqī, Abū ʿAli Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥassan (d. 1030), ''Al-Azminah wa al-Amkinah'' (Times and Places), Edition by Dr. Mohammad Nayef al-Dulaymi, (Arabic print of the original book in 2002, World of Books, Beirut, Lebanon).</ref>

<ref name="sufi1954">أبو الحسين عبدالرحمن بن عمر الرازي المعروف بالصوفي (المتوفى سنة 376 هـ/986م)، كتاب صور الكواكب الثمانية والأربعين، الطبعة الأولى بمطبعة مجلس دائرة المعارف العثمانية، حيدر أباد الدكن، الهند، 1375 هـ - 1954 م. 
Abūl-ḥusayn ʿabdur-Raḥmān aṣ-Ṣūfī. d. 376 AH / 986 CE, ''Ṣuwaru'l-Kawākib'', The Dairatu'l-Maʿarifi'l-Osmania, Hyderabad - Deccan - India, 1373 A.H./1954 A.D.</ref>
}}

[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:North Africa]]
[[Category:Eurasia]]
[[Category:Asian]]
[[Category:West Asian]]
[[Category:Arabic]]
[[Category:Asterism]]
[[Category:Constellation]]
[[Category:IAU-Star Name]]

Al-Qaṭa - Revision history

KhalidAlAjaji: changed chart