Capella
- HIP
- 24608
- Designation
- 13 Alp Aur
- Bayer designation
- α Aur
- Visual magnitude
- 0.08
- Constellation
- Charioteer
- Name approved by the IAU
- 2016-06-30
The IAU catalogue's account
Its ancient Roman name meaning "the She-goat" (but more commonly given, in antiquity, as Capra), after the star's Greek name αίξ, "the Goat". Reapplied in recent times. The Roman names Capella, Aselli (for γ/ δ Cnc), and others in the diminutive form (also in Greek), are likely meant to indicate an atypical use of words, as an animal's name given to a star instead of to the animal (rather than meaning "small" animals or personages).
- Source language
- Latin
- Reference
- 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.
Source: IAU Catalog of Star Names (IAU-CSN), Working Group on Star Names. The account is the IAU's own text and is quoted in full: it is published under CC BY.
From Kunitzsch & Smart
- Layer of tradition
- Roman/Latin
- Ancient-layer signal
- cue found
- Source form
- meaning
- Pronounced
- ku pel' lu
- Literal meanings
- the She-goat; the Goat; small
- Periods of use
- Ancient, Recent / modern
Source: Kunitzsch & Smart, A Dictionary of Modern Star Names, 2nd ed. 2006, p. 19
Layer of tradition and ancient-layer signal are not the dictionary authors' judgement but a keyword reading of the entry's wording. “No simple cue found” means exactly that — the parser found none — not that the name is late.
The fields on this card were read off an OCR layer and are not checked against the printed page. The page number is given so the claim can be verified in your own copy.
Corpus chains passing through this star. Deviation is the cross-track angular distance of the third star from the great-circle plane.
- Скорпион → Большая Медведица → ВозничийЖало греха → Большое стадо - Церковь → Господь Творения — Добрый Пастырь
Other named stars of this constellation: