Alawaidh (العَوائِذ)

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Roland Laffitte, DanielleAdams

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Arabian camels: four mothers protecting one baby in the middle (CC BY Khalid AlAjaji in Stellarium for WGSN).

Arabian astrisms in the Draco area with some enemies from all directions threatening the camel baby protected by the four camel mothers (CC BY Roland Laffitte 2025).

Alawaidh (العَوائِذ), The Camel Mothers, derives from an Arabic asterism: four camel mothers are protecting one newborn camel calf (Alruba, HIP 86782). Laffitte (2025) mentions that the four camel mothers together with the trotting camel were also occasionally named in Latin "Quinque Dromadarii".

Concordance, Etymology, History

Name Variants

• Alwaid
• Alawaid
• Alawaidh

The Classical Arabic word العَوائِذ al-ʿawāʾidh was the plural form for العائِذ al-ʿāʾidh, which meant a female camel, horse or gazelle that had given birth recently (within the past week or two). The Arabic root means "to seek protection", and so the new mothers were called al-ʿawāʾidh because their newborn calves or foals sought protection from them.

As a star name, al-ʿawāʾidh (the Camel Mothers) was applied to an indigenous Arabian asterism of four stars in the IAU constellation of Draco: β (Rastaban), γ (Eltanin), ν and ξ (Grumium). A very faint star in the middle of this asterism (HIP 86782) was the newborn camel, called الرُبْع ar-rubʿ in Arabic.

For Nu Draconis (ν Dra) the name Kuma is sometimes used but its etymology and meaning are obscure, as it originates from Bečvář's 1948 atlas.

Concordance

This name "Alwaid" has sometimes been applied to β (beta) Draconis, but it is not in the IAU Catalog of Star Names because another name, Rastaban, was already approved for this star.

Allen's assertion that al-ʿawāʾidh included a fifth star—μ Draconis (Alrakis) known as ar-rāqiṣ (the Ambling Camel) is one of his many errors, as all early Arabic sources identified the asterism as a group of four stars, not five.

Adams (2018), pp. 92–94.

Khalid AlAjaji

Arabian Camel Mothers and Camel Baby in Draco (CC BY Roland Laffitte 2025).

Roland Laffitte (2012, 2025) deliberately translates al-^cAwā’iḏ, « camels that have just given birth » .

Arabic العوائذ al-^cAwā’iḏ, ‘the camels that have just given birth’, name of the group βγξν Dra, Ibn Qutayba. Lat.: Bode for βγξν Dra; Piazzi for β Dra, Littrow, Proctor, etc., as noted by Allen. Fr.: Francœur. Alwaid, Rumrill, Alwaid A & B p/ ν² & ν¹ Dra, Rhoads, Alwaid p/ β Dra, Rumrill, Hoffleit, Nit. 01, h2g2.

He also mentions [Quinque Dromadarii], ‘the Five Dromedaries’ for p/βγξνρ Dra, c/ Apian from a medieval translation by al-Ṣūfī, see KUNITZSCH, ‘Peter Apian und “Azophi”’^B►. Noted p/ Allen.

Name (orig.)	Name (transliteration)	translation (English)	identification (RL)	author	Note
	al-ᶜAwā’iḍ	the camels who have just given birth	βγξν Dra	Qutayba
	al-Rāqiṣ	the trotting camel	μ Dra	Ṣūfī	cf. Alrakis for mu. Dra and the obsolete Erakis (الراقص)
	al-Rubaᶜ	the camel born in spring	86782 Dra	Qutayba
	al-Rābiᶜ	the camel born in spring		Ḏ. hay.

IAU Working Group Star Names

The name "Alwaid" that is found in the literature of popular astronomy was proposed for the IAU-Catalog of Star Names in 2023. However, it was not applied to any star, since all four of the stars representing the Arabian asterism al-ʿawāʾidh (the Camel Mothers) already had IAU-approved modern star names in use. New suggestions (2024): As "Alwaid" was alias for Beta Draconis in several references, perhaps we should use it for β (beta) Draconis B (Gaia EDR3 1415230383034347264)?

The name "Alawaidh" was suggested to the WGSN in 2026 for ν Dra, as this one is the only star in the quadrilateral that is yet unnamed. The best rendering of the Arabic name in English seems to be "Alawaidh" which has not yet been used and might, thus, not cause confusion with potential historical adoptions of the name.

References

• al-Marzūqī, Abū ˓Alī Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan. 1914. Kitāb al-azmina wa al-amkina. 2 vols. Hyderabad: Maṭbaʿat Majlis Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Kāʾina, 2:374-375.