Nihal (النِّهال)
Nihal
Authors: IAU-WGSN Etymology Group, Susanne M Hoffmann, Roland Laffitte
Nihal (النِّهال) 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 25606 (β Lep, HR 1829) in constellation Lep.
Etymology and History
Variants
- Nibal
- al-Nihāl (النِّهال)
- a-Nahal (النَّهَل)
Applied in recent times from the ind-A asterism name al-nihal "the Camels Beginning to Quench Their Thirst" for α, β, γ, and δ Lep,[1] As the area of the Lepus constellation is also reported under the name al-Nihāl. In classical Arabic usage, nahl denotes the first watering of camels at a well, after which they rest near the trough and later return for a second watering (al-ʿalal) before going back to pasture. The application of the name al-Nihāl to this star group may be motivated by its proximity to the Milky Way, often conceptualized as a celestial river. Morphologically, nāhil yields the collective nahal and the plural nihāl. Al-Marzūqī explicitly notes that Kursiyy al-Jawzāʾ is also called al-Nahal.
Al-Ṣūfī (ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī, d. 986 CE), in his description of the constellation al-Arnab, records that Arab observers designated the seventh through tenth stars of Lepus—those on the body of the “hare”—as Kursiyy al-Jawzāʾ al-Muʾakhkhar and ʿArsh al-Jawzāʾ, on the grounds that they lie between Orion’s two feet in the position corresponding to a throne. He further notes that some works on al-Anwāʾ (seasonal star risings and settings) refer to these same stars as al-Nihāl.[2]
Laffitte (2025)[3] elaborates:
It was Piazzi who first introduced this name, which has since been endorsed by the IAU. The name in question is al-Nihāl, ‘the [Ostriches] that have quenched their thirst’, one of the terms used by the ancient Arabs to refer to the group αβγδ Lep. Arabic al-Nihāl, al-Ṣūfī > ‘AlNihál’, Hyde, hence Nihal, Piazzi, and in French: Coulier and Francœur, Allen, Rumrill, etc., Simbad, IAU. Var. Nibal, Allen, Nit. 01
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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
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ al-Ṣūfī, Abū al-Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿUmar. Kitāb al-kawākib. Critical edition with commentary by Khalid al-Ajaji, digital edition 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Roland Laffitte (2025), Nommer les étoile: 500 noms hérités des Arabes - Apport de l'uranographie arabe, Orient des Mots
