Wasat
- HIP
- 35550
- Designation
- 55 Del Gem
- Bayer designation
- δ Gem
- Visual magnitude
- 3.5
- Constellation
- Twins
- Name approved by the IAU
- 2016-08-21
The IAU catalogue's account
From the Arabic word wasat, "middle," used by a Arabic commentator who was speculating on the meaning of the pre-Islamic Arabian constellation name al-jauza'. Reference was made to al-jauza's being in the "middle" (wasat) of the sky (perhaps meaning the celestial equator). The reference was intended to apply to the pre-Islamic Arabian figure located in today's Orion, however it was under the constellation which is today Gemini that the reference appeared (note the confusion between Orion and Gemini mentioned under α Ori). Therefore, after transliteration into Latin, it was in Gemini (to δ) that the word "Wasat" was arbitrarily applied as a star name in recent times.
- Source language
- Arabic
- 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
- Arabic
- Ancient-layer signal
- cue found
- Source form
- wasat
- Pronounced
- wa' sat
- Literal meanings
- middle
- Periods of use
- Recent / modern
- Transmission notes
- error/corruption, transliteration
Source: Kunitzsch & Smart, A Dictionary of Modern Star Names, 2nd ed. 2006, p. 38
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 → Рыбы → БлизнецыЖало греха → Два Божьих народа → Страдающий Спаситель и воцарившийся Судия
Other named stars of this constellation: