Gamma Corvi is the brightest star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Corvus

Corvus (constellation)

Corvus is a small constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for raven or crow. It includes only 11 stars visible to the naked eye...

. Its traditional name is Gienah, which it shares with Epsilon Cygni

Epsilon Cygni

Epsilon Cygni is a star in the constellation Cygnus . It is also called Gienah, a traditional name it shares with Gamma Corvi...

. The name "Gienah Corvi" (or "Gienah Ghurab") may be used to distinguish it from this Gienah in Cygnus.

"Gienah" derives from Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, from Ulugh Beg

Ulugh Beg

Ulugh Bek was a Timurid ruler as well as an astronomer, mathematician and sultan. His commonly-known name is not truly a personal name, but rather a moniker, which can be loosely translated as "Great Ruler" or "Patriarch Ruler" and was the Turkic equivalent of Timur's Perso-Arabic title Amīr-e...

's الجناح الغراب اليمن al-janāħ al-ghirāb al-yaman, meaning "the right wing of the crow", although on modern charts it marks the left wing.

Al-janāħ al-ghirāb al-yaman or Djenah al Ghyrab al Eymen was appeared in the catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of Al Achsasi Al Mouakket, which was translated into Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 as Dextra ala Corvi.

In Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, , meaning Chariot

Chariot (Chinese constellation)

The Chariot mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the southern mansions of the Vermilion Bird.-Asterisms:...

 (asterism), refers to an asterism consisting of γ Corvi, ε Corvi

Epsilon Corvi

Epsilon Corvi is a star in the constellation Corvus. It has the traditional name Minkar, from Arabian ألمنخر almánxar meaning "the nostril of the crow"...

, δ Corvi and β Corvi

Beta Corvi

Beta Corvi is the second brightest star in the constellation of Corvus. It also has the name Kraz....

. Consequently, γ Corvi itself is known as .

Structure

This star has a stellar classification

Stellar classification

In astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. The spectral class of a star is a designated class of a star describing the ionization of its chromosphere, what atomic excitations are most prominent in the light, giving an objective measure...

 of B8III, indicating it is a giant star

Giant star

A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main sequence star of the same surface temperature. Typically, giant stars have radii between 10 and 100 solar radii and luminosities between 10 and 1,000 times that of the Sun. Stars still more luminous than giants are...

. It is located at a distance of about 165 light years from the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

. This is a candidate binary star

Binary star

A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...

 that may have a companion.

Etymology and cultural significance

In astrology

Astrology

Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...

, Gienah is supposed to have a similar effect to Mars and Saturn, tending to promote greed and craftiness. It was one of the medieval Behenian stars, associated with onyx

Onyx

Onyx is a banded variety of chalcedony. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color . Commonly, specimens of onyx contain bands of black and/or white.-Etymology:...

, burdock

Burdock

Burdock is any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae. Native to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide....

, and a crow-like kabbalistic symbol . In this context it is sometimes referred to as Ala Corvi, "the wing of the crow or raven."

External links

• Kaler, Jim (2004). "STARS: Gienah Corvi". Retrieved July 11, 2005.
• Wright, Anne (2003). "The Fixed Stars: Gienah (Crv)". Retrieved July 11, 2005.