emamajek on 06-Feb-2016 16:52:30 GMT about * gam Cet
Gamma Ceti (HR 804) is known by the proper name "Kaffaljidhma" or variants:
(1) Richard Hinckley Allen (1899) "Star-names and their meanings" (G.E. Stechert, New York) ["Al Kaff al Jidhmah"]
(2) Antonin Becvar (1964) "Atlas of the Heavens - II: Catalogue 1950.0", Praha: Publication House of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and Cambridge, Mass.: Sky Publishing Corporation, 1964, 4th enl. edition, edited by Mohr, Josef M. (scient. ed.) ["Kaffaljidhma"]
(3) Jack W. Rhoads (1971) "Technical Memorandum 33-507: A Reduced Star Catalog Containing 537 Named Stars", Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA ["Kafalgidma"]
(4) D. Hoffleit & W.H. Warren, Jr. (1991) "The Bright Star Catalog, 5th Revised Edition (Preliminary Version)" ["Kaffaljidhma" or "Al Kaff al Jidhmah"]
(5) Michael E. Bakich (1995) "The Cambridge Guide to the Constellations" (Cambridge University Press, New York) ["Kaffaljidhmah"]
(6) P. Moore (2006) "The Amateur Astronomer" (12th edition, Springer) ["Alkaffaljidhina"]
It appears that the name originally refers to either an Arabic asterism within the constellation Cetus or alpha Ceti itself ["Caph Al Gjedma" appears in Hyde's 1665 translation of Ulugh Beg's catalog, "Kaff-al-jidhma" in Smyth 1881; "Al Kaff-ol-Gathmaa" in Samaha 1936, from Al Sufi]. Regardless, it appears that it was appropriated specifically to gamma Ceti in the 19th century. There are numerous spelling variations, but the one-word transliteration in Becvar's atlases and the Bright Star Catalogue ("Kaffaljidhma") appear to be the most commonly used.
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