Caph

Cassiopeia · Cas · β Cas · HR 21 · HIP 746 · magnitude 2.28

Applied in recent times from an abbreviation of its ind-A name al-kaff al-khadib "the Stained Hand," alternatively and more correctly used for all the brighter stars of today's Cassiopeia (probably α, β, γ, δ, and ε). T…

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Astronomy

Official IAU information

Designation

HR 21

HIP

746

Bayer ID

β Cas

Visual magnitude

2.28

Right ascension (J2000)

2.29452°

Declination (J2000)

59.1498°

IAU adoption

2016/06/30

Name origin

Applied in recent times from an abbreviation of its ind-A name al-kaff al-khadib "the Stained Hand," alternatively and more correctly used for all the brighter stars of today's Cassiopeia (probably α, β, γ, δ, and ε). The ind-A figure here represented a hand with its finger-tips stained reddish-brown in the traditional Eastern way using henna leaves. al-kaff al-khatdib, in turn, was part of the larger ind-A asterism kaff althurayya al-yumna al-mabsuta, "the Outstretched Right Hand of the Pleiades." The latter extended from today's Taurus through Perseus into Cassiopeia. A second hand (the Pleiades were a "head" from which two arms or hands radiated) was al-kaff al-jadhma', "the Amputated Hand," in today's Cetus.

Other stars in Cassiopeia