Arabic Star Names: A Treasure of Knowledge Shared by the World

by Zakri Abdul Hamid Published on: 24th November 2007

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Many of the prominent stars known today are of Arabic origin as they bear names given to them during the golden age of Islamic astronomy. A major contribution in this field is that of al-Sufi (10th century). Presenting shortly the historical context of the old nomenclature of Arabic star names, the article contains also a list of 165 stars known by Arabic names.

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The origin of star names

Figure 1: The constellation Centaurus
from al-Sufi’s book. (Source).

Regardless of origin, almost all star names belong to old traditions. They are a part of the collective cultural heritage of humanity. Modern astronomers study many stars too faint to see without a telescope, and these are so numerous they are known only by catalogue numbers and coordinates. As a result, official star names are essentially limited to the old names, and typically only bright stars have names.

The majority of stars names are related to their constellation, e.g., the star Deneb means “tail” and labels that part of Cygnus the Swan. Others describe the star itself, such as Sirius, which translates literally as “scorching,” apt enough for the brightest star in the sky. Quite a lot of prominent stars bear Arabic names, in which al corresponds to the article “the” and often appears in front, e.g., Algol, “The Ghoul.” Its inclusion has become somewhat arbitrary over time. Hence, several star names of Arabic origin are given elsewhere with or without the al- prefix. Most other names of stars inherited from the past have Greek, Latin or Chinese labels.

History of Arabic Star Names

Ptolemy, the Greek astronomer who lived and worked around 100-178 CE in Alexandria, Egypt, collected ancient Greek descriptions of 1,022 stars in his famous book The Great System of Astronomy, popularised under its shortened Arabic title, the Almagest. Ptolemy’s catalogue of stars arranged into 48 constellations, with estimates of their brightness, based largely on the observations of the Greek earlier astronomers, such as Hipparchus.

Figure 2: The depiction of Orion, as seen from Earth (left) and a mirror-image, from a 13th-century copy of al-Sufi’s Book of the Fixed Stars. In this version, Orion’s shield has become a long sleeve, typical of Islamic dress. (Source).

Ptolemy’s book was translated twice into Arabic in the 9th century and became famous. Many of the Arabic-language star descriptions in the Almagest came to be used widely as names for stars. The leading expert on star names in Islamic astronomy, the German historian Paul Kunitzsch, has identified two traditions of star names in Muslim heritage. The first is the traditional star folklore of the Muslim peoples which he has named “indigenous-Arabic”, the second being the scientific Islamic Arabic tradition, which he designates “scientific-Arabic”.

Figure 3: Depiction of star patterns for the Celestial Twins of the constellation Gemini in al-Sufi’s catalogue of stars. (Source).

When the Arabic texts were translated into Latin beginning from the 12th century, the Arabic tradition of star names was passed down to the Latin world. However, this happened often in a highly corrupted form that either changed the meaning, or in extreme cases gave birth to words with no meaning at all. Other names were mistakenly transferred from one star to another, so that a name might even refer to a different constellation (Greek or Arabic) rather than to the one of the star’s actual residence.

Nevertheless, even with these shortcomings, the majority of star names adopted since the Renaissance are Arabic in origin. In 1603, German astronomer Johann Bayer (1572-1625) instituted a system of assigning Greek letters to stars (Bayer designation), consisting of a lowercase Greek letter followed by the genitive name of the constellation. The letters are usually assigned to the stars in the order of their brightness within a given constellation. For instance, the brightest star in a constellation “Alpha” was rendered as “the second Beta,” and so on. To the Greek letter name is appended the Latin possessive form of the constellation name. Thus the brightest star in Lyra, Vega (an Arabic proper name), becomes Alpha of Lyra or Alpha Lyrae (where “Lyrae” means “of Lyra”).

Al-Sufi’s Book of the Fixed Stars

Figure 4: Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Tarcama-i Kitab-i Suvaru’l-kevâkib, Süleymaniye Library, MS Ayasofya 2595, fol. 25b-26a. Figure of Cassiopeia, dhât al-kursî (the seated one). The constellation, composed of 13 stars, represents the figure of a woman seated on a cushioned chair. The largest of the stars, in the cushion upon which one of Cassiopeia’s elbows rests, is called al-kaff al-khadib (written al-hadîb), maning “the hand of the dyed one”.

One of those who left an indelib`le influence on the Arabic observation and study of stars is the astronomer Abu al-Husayn ‘Abd Al-Rahman al-Sufi (903-986), known also by his Latinized name of Azophi, who systematically revised Ptolemy’s catalogue of stars. Al-Sufi produced a revised and updated version of Ptolemy’s Almagest in a major book called Kitab suwar al-kawakib (The Book of Fixed Stars), completed around 964 CE. Built on the basis of the Greek astronomical heritage, the work of al- Sufi contained a listing of the Arabs’ own star names, magnitudes determined by al-Sufi himself, and two drawings of each constellation, one as it is seen in the sky and one reversed right to left as it would appear on a celestial globe. The oldest surviving copy was produced by his son around 1010 CE and is preserved in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (MS Marsh 144).

Figure 5: Depiction of star patterns for the Celestial Twins (Jawza) of the constellation Gemini in Nasir al-Din al-Tusi’s Tarcama-i Kitab-i Suvaru’l-kevâkib, Süleymaniye Library, MS Ayasofya 2595, fol. 51b.

According to Paul Kunitzsch, the German authority on Arabic star names, local tradition of the peoples of Islamic lands in the Arabian Peninsula and in the Middle East had their own names for various bright stars such as Aldebaran, and they commonly regarded single stars as representing animals or people. For example, the stars we know as Alpha and Beta Ophiuchi were regarded by them as a shepherd and his dog, while neighbouring stars made up the outlines of a field with sheep. Some of the Arabic names were already so many centuries old that their meanings were lost even to al-Sufi and his contemporaries, and they remain unknown today. Other star names used by al-Sufi and his compatriots were direct translations of Ptolemy’s descriptions. For example, the star name Fomalhaut comes from the Arabic meaning “mouth of the southern fish”, which is where Ptolemy had described it in the Almagest.

Al-Sufi did his own brightness and magnitude estimates which frequently deviated from those in Ptolemy’s work. He identified the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is visible from Yemen, though not from Isfahan in the centre of Iran where he worked; it was not seen by Europeans until Magellan’s voyage in the 16th century. He also did the earliest recorded observation of the Andromeda Galaxy, which he described as a “small cloud”. He observed that the ecliptic plane is inclined with respect to the celestial equator and more accurately calculated the length of the tropical year. He observed and described the stars, their positions, their magnitudes and their colour, setting out his results constellation by constellation. His famous Book of Fixed Stars was translated into Latin and had a major influence in Europe since the 13th century, both by its textual descriptions and pictures.

Figure 6: Depiction of star patterns fort he Pegasus (al-Faras al-a’zam) constellations from Nasir al-Din al-Tusi’s Tarcama-i Kitab-i Suvaru’l-kevâkib, Süleymaniye Library, MS Ayasofya 2595, fol. 37a.

List of star names having Arabic origin

In the following, we present a list of Arabic Star Names. This list does not contain all documented star names in the Arabic nomenclature. Note also that some stars may have more than one Arabic name (such as: Gamma Gem, Eta UMa, Beta Cet, Lambda Ori, Alpha Psc, Beta Ori ), and that some star names may be composites of Arabic and Latin words (such as: Alula Australis (Xi UMa). Some of the above names are still used in the sky atlases, while others are rarely used, and others disappeared from astronomical atlases.

No.	Proper Name	Arabic Name	Meaning	Star
01	Acamar	Akhir an-Nahr	End of the river	Theta Eri
02	Achernar	Akhir an-Nahr	End of the river	Alpha Eri
03	Acrab	Al-‘Aqrab	The scorpion	Beta Sco
04	Acubens	Az-Zubana	The claw	Alpha Cnc
05	Adhafera	Ad-Dafirah	The curl	Zeta Leo
06	Adhara	Al-‘Adhara	The maidens	Epsilon CMa
07	Ain	‘Ain	“Eye” of the Bull	Epsilon Tau
08	Albali	Al-Bali’	The swallower	Epsilon Aqr
09	Alchibah	Al-Khiba’	The tent	Alpha Crv
10	Aldebaran	Ad-Dabaran	“Follower” of the Pleiades	Alpha Tau
11	Alderamin	Adh-Dhira’ al-Yamin ?	The right forearm ?	Alpha Cep
12	Alfirk	Al-Firq	The flock	Beta Cep
13	Algedi	Al-Jady	The goat	Alpha Cap
14	Algenib	Al-Janb	The flank	Gamma Peg
15	Algieba	Al-Jabhah	“The forehead” of the lion	Gamma Leo
16	Algebar	Al-Jabbar	The giant	Beta Ori
17	Algol	Al-Ghul	The ghoul	Beta Per
18	Algorab	Al-Ghurab	The raven	Delta Crv
19	Alhena	Al-Han’ah	The brand-mark	Gamma Gem
20	Alioth	Al-Jawn	The black horse	Epsilon UMa
21	Alkaid	Al-Qa’id	“Leader” of the mourning maidens	Eta UMa
22	Alkes	Al-Ka’s	The cup	Alpha Crt
23	Almak	‘Anaq al-Ard	Earth-kid	Gamma And
24	Almeisan	Al-Maisan	The shining one	Gamma Gem
25	Alnair	An-Nayyir	The bright one	Alpha Gru
26	Alnair	An-Nayyir	The bright one	Zeta Cen
27	Alnilam	An-Nidham	The string of pearls	Epsilon Ori
28	Alnitak	An-Nitaq	The belt	Zeta Ori
29	Alphard	Al-Fard	The solitary one	Alpha Hya
30	Alphecca	Al-Fakkah	“The broken” ring of stars	Alpha CrB
31	Alpheratz	Surrat al-Faras	Navel of the steed	Alpha And
32	Alsafi	Al-Athafi	“The tripods” for cooking on	Sigma Dra
33	Alsuhail	Suhail	Un-translated	Lambda Vel
34	Altair	At-Ta’ir	“The flying” eagle	Alpha Aql
35	Altais	At-Tinnin	The great serpent	Delta Dra
36	Alterf	At-Tarf	“The glance” of the lion	Lambda Leo
37	Aludra	Al-‘Udhrah	The maidenhead	Eta CMa
38	Alula Australis	Al-Qafzah al-Ula	The southern one of “the first leap”	Xi UMa
39	Alula Borealis	Al-Qafzah al-Ula	The northern one of “the first leap”	Nu UMa
40	Alya	Al-Alyah	The fatty tail of a sheep	Theta Ser
41	Angetenar	‘Arjat an-Nahr	Curve of the river	Tau2 Eri
42	Ankaa	Al-‘Anka’	Phoenix	Alpha Phe
43	Arkab	Al-‘Urqub	The heel-tendon	Beta Sgr
44	Arneb	Al-Arnab	The hare	Alpha Lep
45	Arrakis	Ar-Raqis	The dancer	Mu Dra
46	Atik	Al-‘Atiq	“The shoulder” of the Pleiades	Omicron Per
47	Auva	Al-‘Awwa’	The barker	Delta Vir
48	Azha	Al-Udhi	The hatching-place	Eta Eri
49	Baham	Al-Biham	The livestock	Theta Peg
50	Baten Kaitos	Batn Qaytus	Belly of Cetus	Zeta Cet
51	Beid	Al-Baid	The eggs	Omicron1 Eri
52	Benetnash	Banat Na’sh	Daughters of the bier	Eta UMa
53	Betelgeuse	Yad al-Jauza’	Hand of Orion	Alpha Ori
54	Botein	Al-Butain	The little belly	Delta Ari
55	Caph	Al-Kaff	“The palm” of the Pleiades	Beta Cas
56	Celbalrai	Kalb ar-Ra’i	The shepherd’s dog	Beta Oph
57	Chort	Al-Kharat	The rib	Theta Leo
58	Cursa	Al-Kursi	The chair	Beta Eri
59	Dabih	Sa’d adh-dhabih	The lucky star of “the slaughterer”	Beta Cap
60	Deneb	Dhanab ad-Dajajah	Tail of the hen	Alpha Cyg
61	Deneb	Dhanab ad-Dulfin	Tail of the Dolphin	Epsilon Del
62	Deneb Algedi	Dhanab al-Jady	Tail of the goat	Delta Cap
63	Deneb Kaitos	Dhanab Qaytus	Tail of Cetus	Beta Cet
64	Denebola	Dhanab al-Asad	Tail of the lion	Beta Leo
65	Diphda	Ad-Difdi’	The frog	Beta Cet
67	Dschubba	Al-Jabhah	“The forehead” of the scorpion	Delta Sco
68	Dubhe	Ad-Dubb	The bear	Alpha UMa
69	Dziban	Adh-Dhi’ban	The two wolves	Psi Dra
70	Edasich	Adh-Dhikh	The hyena	Iota Dra
71	El Nath	An-Nath	The butting	Beta Tau
72	Eltanin	At-Tinnin	The great serpent	Gamma Dra
73	Enif	Al-Anf	The nose	Epsilon Peg
74	Errai	Ar-Ra’i	The shepherd	Gamma Cep
75	Fomalhaut	Fam al-Hut	Mouth of the fish	Alpha PsA
76	Furud	Al-Furud	“Individual” stars	Zeta CMa
77	Gienah	Al-Janah	The wing	Gamma Crv
78	Gienah	Al-Janah	The wing	Epsilon Cyg
79	Gomeisa	Al-Ghumaisa’	The bleary-eyed one	Beta CMi
80	Hadar	Hadar	Un-translated	Beta Cen
81	Hamal	Al-Hamal	The ram	Alpha Ari
82	Heka	Al-Haq’ah	The white spot	Lambda Ori
83	Homam	Sa’d al-humam	The lucky star of “the high-minded man”	Zeta Peg
84	Izar	Al-Izar	The loin-cloth	Epsilon Boo
85	Jabbah	Al-Jabhah	“The forehead” of the scorpion	Nu Sco
86	Kaffaljidhma	Al-Kaff al-Jadhma’	The cut-short hand	Gamma Cet
87	Kaus Australis	Al-Qaus	The southern one of “the bow”	Epsilon Sgr
88	Kaus Borealis	Al-Qaus	The northern one of “the bow”	Lambda Sgr
89	Kaus Media	Al-Qaus	The middle one of “the bow”	Delta Sgr
90	Keid	Al-Qaid	The broken egg-shells	Omicron2 Eri
91	Kitalpha	Qit’at al-Faras	Part of the horse	Alpha Equ
92	Kokab	Al-Kaukab	The star	Beta UMi
93	Kurhah	Al-Qurhah	“The blaze” on a horse’s brow	Xi Cep
94	Lesath	Al-Las’ah	The sting	Upsilon Sco
95	Maasym	Al-Mi’sam	The wrist	Lambda Her
96	Maaz	Al-Ma’z	The he-goat	Epsilon Aur
97	Marfik	Al-Mirfaq	The elbow	Lambda Oph
98	Markab	Mankib al-Faras	“The shoulder” of the horse	Alpha Peg
99	Matar	Sa’d Matar	The lucky star of “the rain”	Eta Peg
100	Mebsuta	Al-Mabsutah	“The outstretched” paw	Epsilon Gem
101	Megrez	Al-Maghriz	“The insertion-point” of the Bear’s tail	Delta UMa
102	Meissa	Al-Maisan	The shining one	Lambda Ori
103	Mekbuda	Al-Maqbudah	“The pulled-in” paw	Zeta Gem
104	Menkalinan	Mankib Dhi-al-‘Inan	Shoulder of the rein-holder	Beta Aur
105	Menkar	Al-Minkhar	The nostril	Alpha Cet
106	Menkib	Al-Mankib	“The shoulder” of the Pleiades	Xi Per
107	Merak	Al-Maraqq	The loins	Beta UMa
108	Mintaka	Al-Mintaqah	The belt	Delta Ori
109	Mirak	Al-Mi’zar	The loin-cloth	Beta And
110	Mirfak	Al-Mirfaq	“The elbow” of the Pleiades	Alpha Per
111	Mizar	Al-Maraqq	The loins	Zeta UMa
112	Mothallah	Al-Muthallath	The triangle	Alpha Tri
113	Muphrid	Al-Mufrid	The solitary one	Eta Boo
114	Murzim	Al-Murzim	The roarer	Beta CMa
115	Nashira	Sa’d Nashirah	The lucky star of Nashirah (un-translated)	Gamma Cap
116	Nekkar	Al-Baqqar	The cattleman	Beta Boo
117	Nasl	An-Nasl	The arrowhead	Gamma Sgr
118	Nihal	An-Nihal	The camels quenching their thirst	Beta Lep
119	Nusakan	An-Nasaqan	The two series	Beta CrB
120	Okda	Al-‘Uqdah	The knot	Alpha Psc
121	Phact	Al-Fakhitah	The dove	Alpha Col
123	Phad	Al-Fakhidh	The thigh	Gamma UMa
124	Pherkad	Al-Farqad	The calf	Gamma UMi
125	Rasalased	Ra’s al-Asad	Head of the lion	Mu Leo
126	Rasalgethi	Ra’s al-Jathi	Head of the kneeling one	Alpha Her
127	Rasalhague	Ra’s al-Hawwa’	Head of the snake-man	Alpha Oph
128	Rastaban	Ra’s ath-Thu’ban	Head of the snake	Beta Dra
129	Rigel	Ar-Rijl	The foot	Beta Ori
130	Rigilkent	Rijl Qanturus	Foot of the centaur	Alpha Cen
131	Risha	Ar-Risha’	The rope	Alpha Psc
132	Rukbah	Ar-Rukbah	The knee	Delta Cas
133	Rukbat	Ar-Rukbah	The knee	Alpha Sgr
134	Sabik	As-Sabiq	The preceding	Eta Oph
135	Sadachbia	Sa’d al-Akhbiyah	Lucky star of the tents	Gamma Aqr
136	Sadalbari	Sa’d al-Bari’	Lucky star of the excellent one	Mu Peg
137	Sadalmelik	Sa’d al-Malik	Lucky star of the king	Alpha Aqr
138	Sadalsuud	Sa’d as-Su’ud	Luck of lucks	Beta Aqr
139	Sadr	As-Sadr	The breast	Gamma Cyg
140	Saiph	As-Saif	The sword	Kappa Ori
141	Scheat	As-Saq	The leg	Beta Peg
142	Shaula	Ash-Shaulah	The raised tail of the scorpion	Lambda Sco
143	Shedir	As-Sadr	The breast	Alpha Cas
144	Sheratan	Ash-Sharatan	The two signs	Beta Ari
145	Sirrah	Surrat al-Faras	Navel of the steed	Alpha And
146	Skat	As-Saq	The leg	Delta Aqr
147	Sulafat	As-Sulahfah	The tortoise	Gamma Lyr
148	Tania Australis	Ath-Thaniyah	The southern one of “the second” leap	Mu UMa
149	Tania Borealis	Ath-Thaniyah	The northern one of “the second” leap	Lambda UMa
150	Talitha Australis	Ath-Thalithah	The southern one of “the third” leap	Kappa UMa
151	Talitha Borealis	Ath-Thalithah	The northern one of “the third” leap	Iota UMa
152	Tarf	At-Tarf	“The glance” of the lion	Beta Cnc
153	Thuban	Ath-Thu’ban	The snake	Alpha Dra
154	Unukalhai	‘Unuq al-Hayyah	Neck of the snake	Alpha Ser
155	Vega	Al-Waqi’	“The stooping” eagle	Alpha Lyr
156	Wasat	Wasat as-Sama’	“Middle” of the sky	Delta Gem
157	Wazn	Al-Wazn	The weight	Beta Col
158	Wezen	Al-Wazn	The weight	Delta CMa
159	Yed Prior	Al-Yad	The preceding one of “the hand”	Delta Oph
160	Yed Posterior	Al-Yad	The succeeding one of “the hand”	Epsilon Oph
161	Zaniah	Az-Zawiyah	The angle	Epsilon Vir
162	Zaurac	Az-Zawraq	The boat	Gamma Eri
163	Zavijava	Zawiyat al-‘Awwa’	Angle of the barker	Beta Vir
164	Zubenelgenubi	Az-Zuban al-Janubi	The southern claw	Alpha Lib
165	Zubeneshamali	Az-Zuban ash-Shamali	The northern claw	Beta Lib

Annotated Resources:

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Gingerich, Owen, “Zoomorphic Astrolabes and the Introduction of Arabic Star Names into Europe”, in From Deferent to Equant. A Volume of Studies on the History of Science in the Ancient and Medieval Near East in Honour of E.S. Kennedy. Edited by David A. King and George Saliba. New York: New York Academy of Science, 1987, pp. 89-104.

Harper, David, and Stockman, Lynne Marie, “(Un)Common Star Names”: link (dated: 1995-2007).

Hinckley Allen, Richard, Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning. Dover reprint, 1963; revised edition (first edition in 1899).

Ibn al-Salah, Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Zur Kritik der Koordinatenüberlieferung im Sternkatalog des Almagest. Arabic text, German translation and introduction by Paul Kunitzsch. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1975.

International Astronomical Union, IAU, “Buying Star Names”. Online here (accessed October 2007).

International Astronomical Union, IAU Commission 5, “Star names: history”, by Marion Schmitz, Chair of IAU Working Group on Designations. Online here (posted 21 September 2004)).

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Kunitsch, Paul, “Star Catalogues and Star Tables in Medieval Oriental and European Astronomy.” Indian Journal of History of Science vol. 21 (1986): pp. 113-122.

Kunitzsch, Paul, “The Astronomer Abu ‘l-Husayn al-Sufi and his Book on the Constellations.” Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamisch Wissenschaften vol. 3 (1986): pp. 56-81.

Kunitzsch, Paul, The Arabs and the Stars. Texts and Traditions on the Fixed Stars and their Influence in Medieval Europe. London: Variorum Reprints, 1989.

Kunitzsch, Paul, “Abd al-Malik Ibn Habib’s Book on the Stars.” Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamisch Wissenschaften vol. 9 (1994): pp. 161-194.

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Sufi, al-, Abu al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Umar, Kitab suwar al-kawakib al-thamaniya wa-‘l-arba’in (Book of the images of the forty-eight stars). Beirut: Daar al-Afaq al jadida, 1981.

Sufi, al-, Abu al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Umar, Description des étoiles fixes: Suwar al-kawakib. Traduction de Hans Carl Frederik Christian Schjellerup. Edité par Fuat Sezgin. Frankfurt: IGAIW, 1986.

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Wikipedia, “List of Arabic star names”. Online here) (accessed October 2007). Presents a huge collection in which the names are given even in Arabic script.