Elnath
From All Skies Encyclopaedia
Authors: IAU-WGSN Etymology Group, Susanne M Hoffmann, Youla Azkarrula, IanRidpath
| Asterism Info | |
| Native | النطح |
|---|---|
| Translation | the butting (of the bull's horns) |
| Position (2000) | |
| Right ascension | 81.57297133 |
| Declination | 28.60745172 |
| Area | 0 sq. deg. |
| Stars | |
| Bright stars | 1 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars | 1 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 0 |
| Brightest star | Elnath (1.65m) |
| Taxonomy | |
| category of asterism | IAU-Star Name |
| IAU- constellations | Tau |
Elnath 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 25428 (β Tau, HR 1791) in constellation Tau.
Etymology and History
From the ind-A name al-naṭḥ (or al-nāṭiḥ), "the Butting (with the horns)", an alternative name for the 1st lunar mansion al-sharaṭān consisting of β and γ Ari (see β Ari). Some late Arabic authors also applied al-naṭḥ as a star name to α Ari. In recent times the name, as “Nath”, was wrongly transferred to β Tau, and subsequently it was completed to “Elnath” (adding the Arabic definite article).
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.
- Ridpath, Ian. Taurus: the horns. Star Tales online edition.
