Gomeisa

Authors: IAU-WGSN Etymology Group, Susanne M Hoffmann, Youla Azkarrula

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Gomeisa

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.)

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.