Caph

Справка каталога IAU

Applied in recent times from an abbreviation of its pre-Islamic Arabian name al-kaff al-khadib "the Stained Hand," alternatively and more correctly used for all the brighter stars of today's Cassiopeia (probably α, β, γ, δ, and ε). The pre-Islamic Arabian figure here represented a hand with its finger-tips stained reddish-brown in the traditional Eastern way using henna leaves. al-kaff al-khatdib, in turn, was part of the larger pre-Islamic Arabian asterism kaff althurayya al-yumna al-mabsuta, "the Outstretched Right Hand of the Pleiades." The latter extended from today's Taurus through Perseus into Cassiopeia. A second hand (the Pleiades were a "head" from which two arms or hands radiated) was al-kaff al-jadhma', "the Amputated Hand," in today's Cetus.

Язык-источник

арабский

Литература

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.

Источник: Каталог имён звёзд IAU (IAU-CSN), Рабочая группа по названиям звёзд. Текст справки принадлежит IAU и приводится целиком: он под лицензией CC BY.