[[File:Timeline of Iran map.gif|thumb|Timeline of Iran map]]
== Solar System Names ==
== Solar System Names ==
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== <small>Here is an overview on all Persian Star names</small> ==
== <small>Here is an overview on all Persian Star names</small> ==
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! No. !! Modern Persian Name فارسی !! Avestan, Pahlavi (Pāzand) and Persian Transcriptions !! Etymological Meaning, when possible !! Commentary
! No. !! Modern Persian Name فارسی !! Avestan, Pahlavi (Pāzand) and Persian Transcriptions !! Etymological Meaning, when possible !! Commentary
|-
|-
| 1 || تیشتر||
|10
|شاهین
Pahl. Tishtar
|[[Alshain]]
|The one connected with the three stars
|Falcon
|''Tištrya-'', m., was an Ancient Zoroastrian astral deity associated with rain and water. This good is the protagonist of the myth of the liberation of the watrs, to which the 8<sup>th</sup> ''Yašt'' 8 of the ''Avesta'', named also ''Tištar Yašt'', is dedicated. This god appears as a man, a horse, and a bull over 30 nights probably starting with the period of his heliacal rising. This star Sirius was linked to the return of springs and opposed by the planet Mercury (''Tīr'') and the shooting stars in later Pahlavi sources. Sometimes ''Tištar'' and ''Tīr'' are associated and confused In the later Mazdean literature.
|see also [[Tarazed]],
is IAU-name
|-
|-
| 2 ||سَدویس
|7
|Pahl. Sadwēs
|بوندا
|[[Bunda|Pāz. Bunda]]
|The one with a hundred servants
|henbane
|In Avestan, its name was ''Satavaēsa-'', m. This denomination can be explained as a compound of ''sata-, “''hundred”, and ''vaēsa-'', which seems to be connected with Skt. ''vaiśa-, “''servant”. Though its identification is debated, it is often linked to '''Fomalhaut''' (α Piscis Austrini); Henning thought it was Antares. A recent suggestion associating it with '''Deneb''' is not satisfactory. Pahlavi texts (''Bundahišn'' X.11) mention it as connected to a lake named Sadwēs via cords of wind. Some scholars have speculated that it was originally a name for the '''rainbow,''' later reassigned to a star. Its single-star identity is confirmed in both Pahlavi Zoroastrian and Manichaean sources.
|is IAU-name
|-
|-
| 3 ||وَنَند
|9
|Pahl. Wanand
|جوزهر
|The Victorious One
|[[Giausar]]
|In Avestan its name was ''Vanaṇt-'', m., “the victorious one”; cf. also Pahlavi ''Wanand''; it corresponds to Vega, α Lyr. In Avestan texts, this is a special divinity to which a little hymn was dedicated (the 21<sup>st</sup> of the canon), that specifically invokes him for his antidemonic powers. Vanant is also the name of one of the lunar mansions, the 20<sup>thof</sup> the list, where ita Pāzand form is ''Varant.''
|
|is IAU-name
|-
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| 4 ||هَفتورنگ
|4
|Pahl. Haftōrang
|هَفتورنگ
|[[Haftōrang|Pahl. Haftōrang]]
|Seven signs
|Seven signs
|The Av. name of this constellation was ''Haptōiriṇga-'', m. (Pahlavi ''Haftōring''/''Haftōrang''), and refers to the Big Dipper. Its meaning was “Seven signs” or “seven penises”. This term, like other Indo-European denominations for the same constellation, focuses on the number seven (e.g., Latin ''Septentriones'', Sanskrit ''Sapta-ṛṣáyaḥ'', etc.). According to later Zoroastrian doctrines, its seven stars correspond to the seven continents of the earth via cords of wind. In Pahlavi literature, ''Haftōring'' is depicted as the General of the North, opposing the planet ''Ohrmazd'' (Jupiter), and is believed to protect the regular circular motion of zodiacal signs around the northern hell.
|
|-
|12
|کاوه
|[[Kaveh]]
|One of the heroes of the Shahnameh
|is IAU-name
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|-
| 5 ||میخگاه
|5
|Pahl. MēxGāh
|میخگاه
| The Pivot of the place / The Pole Star ||Pahlavi ''Mēx ī Gāh'', “the nail of the sky”, refers to Polaris, the North Star. In the Pahlavi texts it was considered the commander in chief of the celestial army. Its cosmic adversary is ''Kēwān'', the planet Saturn. In Avestan times there was no Pole Star, but the area between the two Bears was associated to ''mərəzu-'', “vertebra”, i.e. a cosmic peg, perhaps associated with two or more stars of the Draco constellation.
|[[MēxGāh|Pahl. MēxGāh]]
|The Pivot of the place / The Pole Star
|
|-
|-
| 6 ||نخو/ نهن
|6
|Pāz. Nahn
|نخو/ نهن
|[[Nahn|Pāz. Nahn]]
(Pahl. Naxw)
|"nose"
|beginning (of Leo)
|beginning (of Leo),
|This is the 10th lunar mansion. In Pahlavi, Naxw means “beginning” or “first.” It corresponds to the 10th Sanskrit asterism Maghā, and in Arabic it aligns with al-Jabha, "forehead", located in the Leo constellation (specifically four stars in the head of the lion). According to Henning, it refers to Regulus and neighboring stars, marking the Lion’s heart or front. The Sogdian form is also associated with Maghā in Sanskrit. "Nahn", the Persian term for "Nose", given to ξ Cnc in the NASA Memorandum by Rhoads (1971). assigned to the star '''ξ Cnc''' registered on 2018/06/01.
is IAU-name
|-
|-
| 7 ||بوندا
| 2 ||سَدویس
|Pāz. Bunda
|[[Sadwēs|Pahl. Sadwēs]]
(Pahl. Bunya)
|The one with a hundred servants
|henbane
|cf. Indian Vedic nakshatra [[Shatabhisha]]
|The twenty-fourth ''xwardag'' is called [WHERE DID YOU FIND; IT is not in the mss.] ''Banzag'' ''or Bang'', derived from the word for “henbane” or “hemp.” It corresponds to the Sanskrit asterism ''Śraviṣṭhā'' / ''Dhaniṣṭhā'', located in the constellation Delphinus or Capricornus. In al-Bīrūnī’s Sogdian-Khwarezmian list, the 22<sup>nd</sup> mansion matches this, and the Arabic equivalent is سعد السعود (''Saʿd al-Suʿūd'', “the Luckiest of the Lucky”). Bunda (a Persian lunar mansion), assigned to the star ξ Aqr on 2018/06/01.
|-
|-
| 8 ||سروش
| 8 ||سروش
|Pahl. Sorūsh
|[[Pahl. Sorūsh]]
|
|
“obedience”, “discipline.”
Means “obedience” or “discipline.” Known as the “Pious Sraoša” (Pahlavi: ''srōš ī ahlaw'').
|
|Av. ''Sraōša'' was a divine messenger, a high god representing “obedience”; he is one of the most important Mazdean divinities. In Zoroastrain ancient and medieval soures, he is not associated with astral bodies. Today, among Persian-speaking astronomers, the name of ''Sraōša'' is commonly associated with the star Capella (α Aur).
|-
|-
| 9 ||جوزهر
| 11 ||ترازو
|Giausar
|[[Tarazed]]
| {|the Balance
Cf. Pahl. Gōzihr or Gawcihr
|see also [[Alshain]],
| {| class="wikitable"
is IAU-name
|From New Persian ''jozhar'' meaning "poisonous place".*** In Pahlavi texts it was the name of the celestial Dragone occupying 180° degress, whose head and tail corresponded to the two nides of the moon. It is of Sasanian origin, but its role is badsed on Greek and Indian traditions.
|-
|-
|10
|1
|شاهین
|[[Tishtar (تیشتر)|تیشتر]]
|Alshain
|Pahl. [[Tishtar (تیشتر)|Tishtar]]
|Falcon
|The one connected with the three stars
| rowspan="2" |Both names (with a misreading in the second word) from abbreviating the Persian asterism name shāhīn-i tarazu, "the Scale Beam," for a, ẞ, and y Aql. The Persian name, in turn, was a medieval translation of these stars' indigenus-Arabic name al-mizan, "the Balance" (said to be a popular name for the ind-Arabs' al-nasr al-tā ir listed under a Aql). 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..
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|-
|-
|11
|3
|ترازو
|وَنَند
|Tarazed
|[[Wanand|Pahl. Wanand]]
|the Balance
|The Victorious One
|-
|cf. Indian Vedic nakshatra [[Abhijit]]
|12
|کاوه
|Kaveh
|One of the heroes of the Shahnameh
|The NameExoWorlds campaign approved the name Kaveh in 2019 for the star HD 175541. Kaveh is one of the heroes of the ''Šāhnāmeh'', the epic poem composed by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010 CE. He is a blacksmith who symbolizes justice and resistance against tyranny. Kaveh carries a banner called Derafsh-e Kaviani (Derafsh: “banner”; Kaviani: The flag belonging to the Kavih, the ancient Iranian heroes of the folklore). The name Kavian was approved for the planet orbiting HD 175541.
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|}
[[Category:Overviews]]
[[Category:Service]]
[[Category:Persian]]
Latest revision as of 15:38, 20 January 2026
Authors: M. Sadegh Faghanpour, Susanne M Hoffmann
Timeline of Iran map
Solar System Names
Traditional Terms
Middle Persian
English
Commentary
مهر
Mehr
Sun
ماه
Māh
Moon
هرمزد
Ohrmazd
Jupiter
وهرام
Wahrām
Mars
آناهید
Anāhīd
Venus
تیر
Tīr
Mercury
کیوان
Kēwān
Saturn
Here is an overview on all Persian Star names
No.
Modern Persian Name فارسی
Avestan, Pahlavi (Pāzand) and Persian Transcriptions
