Regulus

Leo · Leo · α Leo · HR 3982 · HIP 49669

The name is a Latin translation of the ancient Greek name for this star: βασιλίσκος, "the (little) King" or "the Kingly One", which is a translation of the Sumerian name of the star: LUGAL (The King). The Romans, follow…

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Astronomy

Official IAU information

Designation

HR 3982

HIP

49669

Bayer ID

α Leo

IAU adoption

2016/06/30

Name origin

The name is a Latin translation of the ancient Greek name for this star: βασιλίσκος, "the (little) King" or "the Kingly One", which is a translation of the Sumerian name of the star: LUGAL (The King). The Romans, following the Greeks, called the star stella regia, "the Royal Star". Later, the Medieval Latin Almagest, translating from the Arabic (where in one version the original Greek diminutive had been lost), had rex, "the King". The form "Regulus" (again, the [little] King") first appears in 1522, obviously formed by some Renaissance scholar after the Greek diminutive name.

Other stars in Leo