This large red star in the constellation Taurus forms the eye of the bull, and its name is Arabic, with a meaning to do with the star's movement. What star is this?

achernar

Aldebaran Apr 11 05, 10:19 AM

Flynn_17

YaY! And for extra marks, can anyone tell me what the name means in Arabic, and why the star was given the name? Apr 11 05, 12:38 PM

Arpeggionist

My Arabic is really rusty (haven't taken a class in over 6 years), but I think in might be related to the Hebrew "litzbor" - to accumulate, to gather. Possibly the way the star seems to grow on its way through the sky. I'm probably very wrong about this, and I would like to appologize to any Arabic speakers on this site. Apr 11 05, 1:41 PM

Flynn_17

Very wrong is about right, Arpy! It's to do with the movement of the stars, to be honest with you. Any other guesses? Apr 11 05, 1:50 PM

lanfranco

From Al Dabaran, for "follower," because it tracks the movement of the Pleiades. http://www.solstation.com/stars2/aldabaran.htm Apr 11 05, 2:00 PM

Arpeggionist

Just shows how good the Israeli education system is when it comes to learning languages. (The only sentence I can recall ever having to learn in English is: "The fish is under the table.") Apr 11 05, 2:28 PM

lanfranco

Much more interesting than "La plume de ma tante." (What was the fish doing under the table, anyway? Besides gasping for air.) Apr 11 05, 2:41 PM

Arpeggionist

Well, my guess is that we were being taught for all sorts of professions involving speaking to tourists, but tourism was down. Apr 11 05, 3:14 PM

Flynn_17

But how many tourists are going to ask you where the fish is? And more to the point, how often is it going to be under the table? It's almost as good as my Italian. That extends to 'my hovercraft is full of eels'. Apr 11 05, 3:19 PM

lanfranco

"Il mio veicolo a cuscino d'aria e pieno di anguille"? Dio! Apr 11 05, 4:03 PM

gmackematix

Ah, mais le sange est dans l'arbre. Apr 11 05, 5:50 PM

lanfranco

Mais oui. Mercy on you, too, gmack. Apr 11 05, 5:57 PM

Halcyon91

Arabics must have been recording the movment of the stars for 100s 1000s? of years. How did they measure star degrees? simple tools? I don't seem to be able to get to the site Ianfranco gave. Apr 15 05, 1:00 PM

Halcyon91

wait maybe they're saying that Aldebaran follows Pleides through the night, not over the years like when stars move towards and away from each other at light speeds. oh *. but then a lot of other stars follow a lot of other stars. like the stars at the end of the bowl in Little Dipper (sleigh dogs i think). but maybe they are talking about over the months. me is confused. Apr 15 05, 1:10 PM