Shampagen's Astronomy
Star Cultures • Modern Constellations • Stars • Asterisms • Deep Sky Objects

Alrakis

Designations

  • Bayer: μ Dra
  • Flamsteed: 21 Dra
  • Hipparchos: HIP 83608

Data

  • Constellation: Draco
  • Apparent Magnitude: 5.66
  • Right Ascension (J2000): 17h05m21.50s
  • Declination (J2000): +54°28'28".4
  • Colour Index (B-V): 0.51
  • Distance: 88.73±0.14ly

Nomenclature

Alrakis

Latinised to the modern form Alrakis, the Arabic al-Rāqiṣ, 'the dancer', really signified 'the trotting camel'. It is part of the Mother Camels asterism, and can be seen 'trotting' over to the caravan, represented by the Lozenge, to protect the foal (Alruba (HIP 86782)) from al-Ḏi’bān, 'the two wolves', an asterism composed of ζ & η Dra.

Sources

  • IAU WGSN. IAU-Catalog of Star Names (CSN). link.
  • Stellarium Contributors. Stellarium Astronomy Software. link.
  • Kunitszch, Paul. Smart, Tim. A Dictionary of Modern Star Names (2006), pp. 35. link.
  • Lafitte, Roland. Catalogue of Star Names of the Arabian Traditional Sky. link.
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