Wezen

Authors: IAU-WGSN Etymology Group, Susanne M Hoffmann

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Wezen 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 34444 (δ CMa, HR 2693) in constellation CMa.

Etymology and History

From the Arabic name al-wazn, for one of a pair of stars, the other one being hadari. Arabic authors ventured to identify these stars as α/β Cen or α/β Col, but exactly what two stars were originally intended, and the significance of their names, is unknown. As a common noun in Arabic, al-wazn means "the weight". "Wezen" was arbitrarily applied to δ CMa in recent times.

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.