Protome

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann

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Protome, The Bust, is a modern star name adopted by the International Astronomical Union in the IAU-Catalog of Star Names (IAU-CSN). Its origin is Ancient Greek. It is the name of the star 6 Equ in constellation Equuleus.

Concordance, Etymology, History

see constellation Equuleus

The name occurs since Roman time when ancient Greek was still the lingua franca of scientific writing. It is not a classical Greek constellation. Geminos (1st century BCE) is the first who mentions it and it was taken up in Ptolemy's Almagest which is why it then spread in European Latin and Arabic translations.

Mythology

There is no mythology for the constellation.

IAU Working Group on Star Names

The name was suggested to the IAU WGSN in 2023, as it is the original name of the constellation. WGSN picked a faint star so close to a bright one that it is normally outshone (although above the visibility threshold). The name is adopted to the IAU-CSN since 16 July 2023.

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Reference

• References (general)
• References (early modern)
• Ian Ridpath's website (Star Tales )