Alphecca

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Alphecca
Alpha Coronae Borealis
The name Alphecca (pronunciation: /ælˈfɛkə/) was approved for Alpha Coronae Borealis by the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) on July 20, 2016. It comes from the Arabic phrase nayyir al-fakka, meaning “the bright (star) of the broken (ring of stars).” The description nayyir al-fakka (Nir al Feccah) appeared in the Egyptian astronomer Al Achsasi al Mouakket’s Calendarium, written circa 1650. The name has also been spelled as Alphekka.

The star has also traditionally been known as Gemma Coronae or simply Gemma, which is the Latin word for “jewel,” and as Asteroth or Ashtaroth, derived from the Hebrew ‘ašterôt (Astarte). The Latin name Gnosia Stella Coronae, meaning “the star of the crown of Knossos,” was mentioned in Virgil’s Georgics (29 BCE). (The city of Knossos, the centre of the Minoan civilization, was the home of the mythical princess Ariadne, daughter of King Minos and half-sister of the Minotaur.)