emamajek on 18-Apr-2015 14:57:28 GMT about * eta UMa
The current SIMBAD spelling of Eta UMa's name ("Alcaid") is a lesser used alias for the more commonly used "Alkaid".
In most modern astronomy references, the name "Alkaid" has been adopted for Eta UMa - as in the following following astronomy references:
(1) Joseph Piazzi (1814) "Praecipuarum Stellarum Inerrantium Positiones Mediae Ineunte Saeculo XIX. Ex Observationibus Habitis In Specula Panormitana Ab anno 1792 ad annum 1813" [also known as the "Palermo catalogue"
(2) Richard Hinckley Allen (1899) "Star-names and their meanings" (G.E. Stechert, New York). ["Alkaid" as alias for "Alcaid"].
(3) Arthur P. Norton (1910) "A Star Atlas and Telescopic Handbook (Epoch 1920) for Students and Amateurs" (Gall and Inglis; London & Edinburgh).
(4) 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.).
(5) Robert Burnham, Jr. (1978) "Burnham's Celestial Handbook: An Observer's Guide to the Universe Beyond the Solar System" (Dover Publications).
(6) Dorris Hoffleit & Carlos Jaschek (1991) "The Bright Star Catalogue" (5th edition; Yale University Observatory, New Haven, CT, USA).
(7) Paul Kunitzsch & Tim Smart (2006) "A Short Guide to 254 Star Names and Their Derivations" (2nd Revised Edition, Sky Publishing, Cambridge MA, USA).
(8) Ian Ridpath (2003) "Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Handbook" (20th edition; Dutton).
The origin of the name is discussed by Allen (1899) and Kunitzsch & Smart (2006). Bailey (1843, Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 13, p. 1) mentions that Ulugh Beg's (1437) name for the star was "Al Kaid". The name "Benetnasch" (Kunitzsch & Smart 2006) or "Benatnasch" (Allen 1899) are other common aliases for Eta UMa.
It may be best to simply list the name in most common use during the past century: "Alkaid".
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