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To: Fred Hayek

Yes, many of the star names currently used are either Arabic or corruptions of Arabic names, because the West got Ptolemy’s great work via the Arabs, but some of the brightest have Greek or Roman names, including Sirius, Canopus, Arcturus, Capella, Procyon, Spica, Antares, Pollux, Regulus, and Castor.


34 posted on 10/03/2014 2:08:31 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Verginius Rufus

You are correct. Showing my age, forty years ago I was taught how to use a sextant and the star tables to navigate at sea. In celestial navigation pubs, 28% of the 58 navigational stars had not Arabic names. The balance or 72% had names of Arabic origin.


35 posted on 10/03/2014 4:13:03 PM PDT by X Fretensis (How)
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