‘IT’S ARABIC’
‘IT’S ARABIC’
ALTAIR
Altair is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila (Eagle in Latin). The name altair is an abbreviation of the Arabic al Nisr Al Ta’ir, the Flying Eagle, which was used in 1650 by the Egyptian astronomer Mohammad al Akhsasi.
ERG
Erg is a geographical term used in the Sahara Desert to describe an area of shifting sand. It comes from the Arabic ‘arq, meaning a line of sand dunes. Its basic use in Arabic refers to a blood vein or the root of a plant, and subsequently undulating lines of dunes.
ALDERBAN
Alderban is a bright red star in the middle of the zodiac constellation of Taurus. The name aldebaran comes from the Arabic al Dabaran, which means the Follower, because this bright star appears to follow the constellation of the Pleides, or the Seven Sisters, in the night sky.
NADIR
Nadir is the direct opposite of zenith, and is the lowest point of any celestial object’s orbit. It also uses the Arabic for pathway, with al samt, as its root, but in this case it is nazir al samt, meaning the opposite on the pathway.
ZENITH
Zenith is the highest point in the sky of a celestial object, and comes from the same root as azimuth, Al Samt meaning path, which in this case was known as samt al ras (path over the head) which was adopted into old French as cenit, before becoming zenith in English.
