Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-04
By Marvin Dana


she yet lived new constella-
ton was named in honor of her golden hair,
the Coma Berenices,-and the name en-
dures.
1t is true that in 1858 Kirch constructed
feeble constellation to which he gave the i'm
posing designation Sceptrn'n Brdndenbnygtnm
and that Bode recognized it century later;
but, alas! that scepter has passed from fame
among men, whether it be on earth or in the
heavens.
Fascinating Derivations
THERE is something strangely fascinating as
one looks at particular star, in the thought
that its name has come down to the same
through ages. Thus in that beautiful star
Betelgeuze we retain an adaptation to our
tongue OF the ancient oriental name. The
Arabic of it is ibt-al- ianzd, which means the
shoulder of the giant. From this phrase our
word has been evolved Betelgeuze is the
bright red, slightly variable star Al pha in the
times of old it was called quantity Miriam,
from al-nirzdn. the roarer.
In the case of another star. Aldebaran. the
original name has been retained with only the
the Arabic is al-debardn. This means the
Follower. the significance of which lies in the
fact that it follows the Pleiades in its rising
1t is the standard first magnitude red star.
alpha Tanri. which is the eye of the bull, the
most conspicuous among the Hyades. The
Romans sought to rename this the Palilicium
because the Hyades rose heliacally on April a.
the day of the Palilia. the anniversary of the
founding of the city. To-day, only anti
quarians and schoolboys concern themselves
with that date in the history of Rome. and the
eye of the bull is still Aldebaran.
Another illustration of this persistence of
name is found in Rigel from the Arabic rfjt-
al-jansd the leg of the giant. This is the
brilliant white. double, first magnitude star.
beta OrfOnfs.
Stars of Many Names
THERE are few groups of stars that have a
widely known variety of names. OF such
by far the most interesting are the Bands of
Scriptures. They are often called the Three
Stars, or the Three Kings. while ancient hus-
bandmen knew them as Jacobs Rod. or the
Rake. All of these names are appropriate
enough; but in 1907 the University of Leipsic
absurdly called them Napoleon. Luckily for
the Corsican, his fame in no wise depends on
the vogue of his name in the heavens; for it
has none there. Commonly. the Bands of
Orion, together with the stars of Orion's
Sword, are called the Ell and Yard, by reason
of the spaces separating them. The Three
Stars alone are properly designated the Yard
stick The distance between two of the stars
marks one celestial degree; and this fact is of
convenience to an observer in estimating dis
tances on the arch of the sky
Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are known also
as the Triones. and as the Greater Vain and
the Lesser Vain. 1t is curious to note that
the larger constellation was given the figure
of the Bear by the Arabs and by the Iroquois
redmen. The assumed forms are ordinarily
fanciful, and the identity of the names in this
instance affords food for speculation. Homer
uses both Bear and Vain (wagon) in his ref
erences to these stars. 1t is evident that the
name Bear was a translation from some origi-
nal Aryan language. as the constellation is
called in Sanskrit, rikshd, a word that. in
different genders, means both bear and
star.
Of course, the Pole Star in the tail of Ursa
Minor is the consultations point of glory. In
this case we may say fairly that the tail wags
the dog, because the group of stars once
called the Dogs Tail, or Cynosure. From
that we have our word cynosure. that toward
which all eyes turn, to the Dogs Tail. for
sight of the Pole Star.