Meissa
Authors: IAU-WGSN Etymology Group, Susanne M Hoffmann, IanRidpath
Meissa 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 26207 (λ Ori, HR 1879) in constellation Ori.
Etymology and History
Kunitzsch and Smart (2006)[1] write:
From the ind-A name al-maisan, for either γ or ξ Gem. The meaning of the name is uncertain. It may mean "the Sparkling One", referring to a star, or "the Proudly Marching One", referring to a person. Together, γ and ξ Gem composed the ind-A 6th lunar mansion alhan'a. The nearby stars λ, ϕ1, and ϕ2 Ori composed the adjacent 5th lunar mansion al-haq'a. Due to confusion between these two parent lunar mansions in a late Arabic source, "Meissa" was wrongly applied to λ Ori (rather than to γ or ξ Gem) in recent times. "Meissa" (without n at the end) corresponds to ind-A almaisa', a variant form of al-maisan.
The lunar mansion identifies with the Vedic Mṛgaśira (मृगशिर), The Deer's Head.
The name of the lunar mansion
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.
- ↑ 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.
