Star in Ursa Major

Mizar

ζ UMa HR 5054 HIP 65378

Ultimately from the Arabic word al-maraqq, "the Groin," used in the Arabic Almagest in describing β UMa. Correct transliterations of almaraqq in the Medieval Latin Almagest were mirac and mirach. However, Renaissance sc…

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Astronomy

Official IAU information

Designation

HR 5054

HIP

65378

Bayer ID

ζ UMa

IAU adoption

2016/06/30

Name origin

Ultimately from the Arabic word al-maraqq, "the Groin," used in the Arabic Almagest in describing β UMa. Correct transliterations of almaraqq in the Medieval Latin Almagest were mirac and mirach. However, Renaissance scholars confused these words with the Arabic word mi'zar, which had equally been transliterated and corrupted in Latin as mirac, mirach, etc. Subsequently the mistaken mi'zar, written as "Mizar," was applied as a star name to β UMa, and it became transferred to ζ UMa in late Renaissance times.

Other stars in Ursa Major