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Altair designated α Aquilae, is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila and the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It is currently in the G-cloud—a nearby interstellar cloud, an accumulation of gas and dust. Altair is an A-type main-sequence star with an apparent visual magnitude of 0.77 and is one of the vertices of the Summer Triangle asterism. It is 16.7 light-years from the Sun and is one of the most visible stars to the naked eye.
Grus is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the crane, a type of bird. It is one of twelve constellations conceived by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. Grus first appeared on a 35-centimetre-diameter (14-inch) celestial globe published in 1598 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius and was depicted in Johann Bayer's star atlas Uranometria of 1603. French explorer and astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille gave Bayer designations to its stars in 1756, some of which had been previously considered part of the neighbouring constellation Piscis Austrinus. The constellations Grus, Pavo, Phoenix and Tucana are collectively known as the "Southern Birds".
Beta Andromedae, Latinized from β Andromedae, and officially named Mirach, is a prominent star in the northern constellation of Andromeda. It is northeast of the Great Square of Pegasus and is potentially visible to all observers north of latitude 54° S. It is commonly used by stargazers to find the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxy NGC 404, also known as Mirach's Ghost, is seven arcminutes away from Mirach.
Mu Draconis is a multiple star system near the head of the constellation of Draco. With a combined magnitude of 4.92, it is visible to the naked eye. Based on parallax estimates by the Hipparcos spacecraft, it is located approximately 89 light-years from the Sun.
Alpha Gruis, Latinized from α Gruis, officially named Alnair, is a single star in the southern constellation of Grus. At magnitude 1.7 it is the brightest star in Grus and one of the brightest stars in the sky and one of the fifty-eight stars selected for celestial navigation. It is a B-type main-sequence star 31 pc away.
Beta Cassiopeiae, officially named Caph, is a Delta Scuti variable star in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It is a giant star belonging to the spectral class F2. The white star of second magnitude has an absolute magnitude of +1.3 mag.
Alpha Phoenicis, formally named Ankaa is the brightest star in the constellation of Phoenix.
Beta Ceti, also named Diphda, is the brightest star in the constellation of Cetus. Although designated 'beta', it is actually brighter than the 'alpha' star in the constellation. This orange giant is easy to identify due to its location in an otherwise dark section of the celestial sphere. Based on parallax measurements, it lies at an estimated distance of 96.3 light-years from the Sun.
Alpha Columbae or α Columbae, officially named Phact, is a third magnitude star in the southern constellation of Columba. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 2.6, making it the brightest member of Columba. Based upon parallax measurements made during the Hipparcos mission, Alpha Columbae is located at a distance of around 261 light-years.
Alpha Cancri, also named Acubens, is a star system in the constellation of Cancer.
Xi Andromedae, officially named Adhil, is a solitary star in the northern constellation of Andromeda. It has an apparent magnitude of +4.9. Based on parallax measurements obtained during the Gaia mission, it lies at a distance of roughly 223 light-years from the Sun.
Gamma Boötis, Latinised from γ Boötis, is a binary star system in the northern constellation of Boötes the herdsman, forming the left shoulder of this asterism. The primary component has the proper name Seginus, the traditional name of the Gamma Bootis system. It has a white hue and is visible to the naked eye with a typical apparent visual magnitude of +3.03. Based on parallax measurements obtained during the Hipparcos mission, it is located at a distance of approximately 85 light-years from the Sun, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −32 km/s.
Zeta Canis Majoris, or ζ Canis Majoris, also named Furud, is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Canis Major. This system has an apparent visual magnitude of +3.0, making it one of the brighter stars in the constellation and hence readily visible to the naked eye. Parallax measurements from the Hipparcos mission yield a distance estimate of around 362 ly (111 pc) from the Sun. It is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +32 km/s.
Zeta Centauri, Latinized from ζ Centauri, is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It has the proper name Alnair, from the Arabic Nayyir Badan Qanṭūris, meaning "The Bright (Star) of the Body of the Centaur". With a combined apparent visual magnitude of +2.55, it is one of the brighter members of the constellation. This system is close enough to the Earth that its distance can be measured directly using the parallax technique. This yields a value of roughly 382 light-years, with a 1.6% margin of error. It is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +6.5 km/s.
Alpha Fornacis is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Fornax. It is the brightest star in the constellation and the only one brighter than magnitude 4.0. Based on parallax measurements obtained during the Hipparcos mission, it is approximately 46 light-years distant from the Sun.
References
- Allen, Richard Hinckley (1963). Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning (rep. ed.). New York City: Dover Publications Inc. ISBN 0-486-21079-0.
- 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. ISBN 978-1-931559-44-7.
- Laffitte, Roland; Gelin, Mathilde (2002). Héritages arabes: Des noms arabes pour les étoiles (2éme revue et corrigée ed.). Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geunthner / Les Cahiers de l’Orient.