Astronomy:Mother Camels

From HandWiki
Revision as of 16:21, 6 March 2023 by NBrush (talk | contribs) (fix)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

The protecting Mother Camels (Arabic العوائذ alʽawaʼid) is an asterism in the constellation of Draco described by ancient Arabic nomadic tribes. The asterism was interpreted as a ring of mother camels – Beta Draconis (Rastaban), Gamma Draconis (Eltanin), Nu Draconis (Kuma) and Xi Draconis (Grumium) – surrounding a foal (the faint star Alruba), with another mother camel, Mu Draconis (Alrakis) running to join them.[1][2] The Arabs did not see the constellation Draco as it is now. The Mother Camels were protecting the foal from the attack of two wolves or jackals – Zeta Draconis (Aldhibah) and Eta Draconis (Athebyne). The faint pair Omega Draconis and 27 Draconis was known as the "wolf's claws" (الأظفار الذئب al-ʼaẓfār al-dhiʼb).[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Allen, R. H. (1963). Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning (rep. ed.). New York City , NY: Dover Publications Inc.. p. 207-212. ISBN 0-486-21079-0. 
  2. Garfinkle, Robert A. (2008). Star-Hopping: Your Visa to Viewing the Universe (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0521598897. https://books.google.com/books?id=40JzBYGREL0C&q=baby+%22Mother+Camels%22+Draco&pg=PA183. Retrieved 16 October 2016.