Editing Alpha Centauri (section)

== Etymology and nomenclature ==
α Centauri ([[Latinisation of names|Latinised]] to Alpha Centauri) is the system's [[Bayer designation|designation]] given by [[Johann Bayer|J. Bayer]] in 1603. It belongs to the constellation [[Centaurus]], named after the [[Centaur|part human, part horse creature]] in Greek mythology; [[Heracles]] accidentally wounded the centaur and placed him in the sky after his death. Alpha Centauri marks the right front hoof of the Centaur.<ref>{{cite web | title=Alpha Centauri, the star system closest to our sun | date=16 April 2023 |url=https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/alpha-centauri-is-the-nearest-bright-star/#:~:text=Alpha%20Centauri%20is%20the%20brightest,sky%20after%20death%20by%20Zeus }}</ref> The common name Rigil Kentaurus is a Latinisation of the Arabic translation {{lang|ar|رجل القنطورس|rtl=yes}} ''Rijl al-Qinṭūrus,'' meaning "the Foot of the Centaur".<ref name=Kunitx-Smart-2006/><ref>{{cite magazine |first=George R.|last=Davis Jr |date=October 1944 |title=The pronunciations, derivations, and meanings of a selected list of star names |magazine=[[Popular Astronomy (US magazine)|Popular Astronomy]] |volume=52 |issue=3 |page=16 |bibcode=1944PA.....52....8D }}</ref> ''Qinṭūrus'' is the Arabic transliteration of the Greek {{math|Κένταυρος}} (Kentaurus).<ref>{{cite book |first = Emilie |last = Savage-Smith |year = 1985 |title = Islamicate Celestial Globes: Their history, construction, and use  |series = Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology |volume = 46 |publisher = Smithsonian Institution Press |url = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-SI-PURL-gpo20712/pdf/GOVPUB-SI-PURL-gpo20712.pdf }}</ref> The name is frequently abbreviated to Rigil Kent ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|aɪ|dʒ|əl|_|'|k|E|n|t}}) or even Rigil, though the latter name is better known for [[Rigel]] ({{mvar|β}} Orionis).<ref name=Allen>{{cite book |first = R.H. |last = Allen |title = Star Names and their Meanings }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baily |first1=Francis |year=1843 |title=The Catalogues of Ptolemy, Ulugh Beigh, Tycho Brahe, Halley, Hevelius, deduced from the best authorities. |quote = With various notes and corrections, and a preface to each catalogue. To which is added the synonym of each star, in the catalogues or Flamsteed of Lacaille, as far as the same can be ascertained. |journal=[[Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society]] |volume=13 |pages=1 |bibcode=1843MmRAS..13....1B}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Martin |last = Rees |date=17 September 2012 |title=Universe: The definitive visual guide |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-1114-3 |page=252 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CqrWEBWPfYoC }}</ref><ref name=Kunitx-Smart-2006>{{cite book |first1=Paul |last1=Kunitzsch |first2=Tim |last2=Smart |year=2006 |title=A Dictionary of Modern Star Names: A short guide to 254&nbsp;star names and their derivations |publisher=Sky Pub. |isbn=978-1-931559-44-7 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XVspPwAACAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=James B. |last=Kaler |date=7 May 2006 |title=The Hundred Greatest Stars |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-0-387-21625-6 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jmoQBwAAQBAJ }}</ref>{{efn|
Spellings include Rigjl Kentaurus,<ref>{{cite book |author-link = Thomas Hyde |last = Hyde |first = T.  |year = 1665 |section = Ulugh Beighi Tabulae Stellarum Fixarum |title = Tabulae Long. ac Lat. Stellarum Fixarum ex Observatione Ulugh Beighi |place = Oxford, UK |pages = 142, 67}}</ref> Portuguese Riguel Kentaurus,<ref>{{cite book |last = da Silva Oliveira |first = R. |url = http://www.asterdomus.com.br/Artigo_crux_australis.htm |title = Crux Australis: o Cruzeiro do Sul |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206102730/http://www.asterdomus.com.br/Artigo_crux_australis.htm |archive-date=6 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Artigos |title = Planetario Movel Inflavel AsterDomus |language = la }}</ref>
}}

An alternative name found in European sources, Toliman, is an approximation of the Arabic {{lang|ar|الظليمان|rtl=yes}} ''aẓ-Ẓalīmān'' (in older transcription, ''aṭ-Ṭhalīmān''), meaning 'the (two male) Ostriches', an appellation [[Zakariya al-Qazwini]] had applied to the pair of stars [[Lambda Sagittarii|Lambda]] and [[Mu Sagittarii]]; it was often unclear on old star maps which name was intended to go with which star (or stars), and the referents changed over time.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |script-title = ar: ظليم ذ   |title = zalim dh |editor-first = Edward William |editor-last = Lane |dictionary = An Arabic–English Lexicon }}</ref> The name Toliman originates with [[Jacobus Golius|Jacob Golius]]' 1669 edition of [[Al-Farghani]]'s ''Compendium''. Tolimân is Golius' Latinisation of the Arabic name {{lang|ar| الظلمان |rtl=yes}} {{lang|ar-Latn|al-Ẓulmān}} "the ostriches", the name of an asterism of which Alpha Centauri formed the main star.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kunitzsch |first1=P. |year=1976 |title=Naturwissenschaft und Philologie: Die arabischen Elemente in der Nomenklatur und Terminologie der Himmelskunde |journal=Die Sterne |volume=52 |pages=218 |doi=10.1515/islm.1975.52.2.263 |s2cid=162297139 |bibcode=1976Stern..52..218K }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hermelink |first1=H. |last2=Kunitzsch |first2=Paul |year=1961 |title=Reviewed work: ''Arabische Sternnamen in Europa'', Paul Kunitzsch |type=book review |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=309–312 |doi=10.2307/595661 |jstor=595661}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Aḥmad |last1=ibn Muḥammad al-Fargānī |first2=Jakob |last2=Golius |year=1669 |title=Muhammedis fil. Ketiri Ferganensis, qui vulgo Alfraganus dicitur, Elementa astronomica, Arabicè & Latinè. Cum notis ad res exoticas sive Orientales, quae in iis occurrunt. |language=la |trans-title = Muhammedis son of Ketiri Ferganensis, who is commonly called al-Fraganus, Astronomical Elements, Arabic and Latin. With notes to the exotic or oriental things that occur in them. |series = Opera Jacobi Golii |publisher=apud Johannem Jansonium à Waasberge, & viduam Elizei Weyerstraet |page=76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OvWTSYvB0TYC&pg=PA76}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Fred |last=Schaaf |date=31 March 2008 |title=The Brightest Stars: Discovering the universe through the sky's most brilliant stars |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-470-24917-8 |page=122 |bibcode=2008bsdu.book.....S |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9LT1q0Il3-YC }}</ref>

{{nobr|α Centauri C}} was discovered in 1915 by [[Robert T. A. Innes]],<ref name=Innes1915>{{cite journal |last1=Innes |first1=R.T.A. |author1-link = Robert T. A. Innes |date=October 1915 |title=A faint star of large proper motion |journal=Circular of the Union Observatory Johannesburg |volume=30 |pages=235–236 |bibcode=1915CiUO...30..235I }}</ref> who suggested that it be named Proxima Centaurus,<ref name=Innes1917>{{cite journal |last1=Innes |first1=R.T.A. |author1-link = Robert T. A. Innes |date= September 1917 |title=Parallax of the faint proper motion star near alpha of Centaurus. 1900. R.A. 14h22m55s-0s 6t. Dec-62° 15'2 0'8 t |journal=Circular of the Union Observatory Johannesburg |volume=40 |pages=331–336 |bibcode=1917CiUO...40..331I}}</ref> {{ety|la ||the nearest [star] of [[Centaurus]]}}.<ref name=oxford2010>{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-first=Angus |editor1-last=Stevenson |year = 2010 |title = Proxima Centauri |dictionary = Oxford Dictionary of English |publisher=Oxford University Press |place = Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-19-957112-3 |page=1431 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=anecAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1431}}</ref> The name Proxima Centauri later became more widely used and is now listed by the [[International Astronomical Union]] (IAU) as the approved proper name;<ref name=aj39_913_20>{{cite journal|last=Alden|first=Harold L.|title=Alpha and Proxima Centauri |journal=Astronomical Journal |year=1928 |volume=39 |issue=913 |pages=20–23 |doi=10.1086/104871 |bibcode=1928AJ.....39...20A |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=WGSNproxima>{{cite report |title=Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names |number = 2 |date=October 2016 |publisher=[[International Astronomical Union]] |url=https://www.iau.org/static/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/WGSN_bulletin2.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.iau.org/static/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/WGSN_bulletin2.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref> it is frequently abbreviated to Proxima.

In 2016, the [[IAU Working Group on Star Names|Working Group on Star Names]] of the IAU,<ref name=WGSN>{{cite report |title=IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) |year=2016 |publisher=[[International Astronomical Union]] |url=https://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/ |access-date=22 May 2016 |archive-date=10 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610172014/https://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> having decided to attribute proper names to individual component stars rather than to [[multiple star|multiple systems]],<ref name=TriRpt18>{{cite report |title=WG Triennial Report |year = 2015–2018 |department = Star Names |page=5 |series=IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) |publisher=[[International Astronomical Union]] |url=https://www.iau.org/static/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/wg-starnames-triennial-report-2015-2018.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.iau.org/static/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/wg-starnames-triennial-report-2015-2018.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=14 July 2018}}</ref> approved the name Rigil Kentaurus ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|aɪ|dʒ|əl|_|k|ɛ|n|ˈ|t|ɔːr|ə|s}}) as being restricted to {{nobr|α Centauri A}} and the name Proxima Centauri ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|r|ɒ|k|s|ɪ|m|ə|_|s|ɛ|n|ˈ|t|ɔːr|aɪ}}) for {{nobr|α Centauri C.}}<ref name="IAU-LSN">{{cite web|url=https://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming_stars/|title=Naming Stars|publisher=[[International Astronomical Union]]|access-date=16 December 2017|archive-date=11 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411104839/https://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming_stars/|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 10&nbsp;August 2018, the [[International Astronomical Union|IAU]] approved the name Toliman ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɒ|l|ɪ|m|æ|n}}) for {{nobr|α Centauri B.}}<ref name="IAU-CSN">{{cite report |title=IAU Catalog of Star Names |publisher=[[International Astronomical Union]] |url=http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/IAU-CSN.txt |access-date=2018-09-17}}</ref>

=== Other names ===
During the 19th&nbsp;century, the northern amateur popularist E.H. Burritt used the now-obscure name Bungula ({{IPAc-en|'|b|V|N|g|juː|l|@}}).<ref>{{cite book |first=Elijah Hinsdale |last=Burritt |year=1850 |title=Atlas: Designed to illustrate the geography of the heavens |publisher=F. J. Huntington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHdtuwEACAAJ }}</ref> Its origin is not known, but it may have been coined from the Greek letter [[beta]] ({{mvar|β}}) and Latin {{lang|la|ungula}} 'hoof', originally for [[Beta Centauri]] (the other hoof).<ref name=Allen/><ref name=Kunitx-Smart-2006/>

In [[Chinese astronomy]], {{lang|zh|南門}} ''Nán Mén'', meaning [[Horn (Chinese constellation)|Southern Gate]], refers to an [[Asterism (astronomy)|asterism]] consisting of Alpha&nbsp;Centauri and [[Epsilon Centauri|Epsilon&nbsp;Centauri]]. Consequently, the [[Chinese star names|Chinese name]] for Alpha Centauri itself is {{lang|zh|南門二}} ''Nán Mén Èr'', the Second Star of the Southern Gate.<ref>{{in lang|zh}} [ AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 6 月 27 日]</ref>

To the Indigenous [[Wergaia|Boorong]] people of northwestern [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] in Australia, Alpha Centauri and [[Beta Centauri]] are Bermbermgle,<ref name=hamacher>{{cite journal |last1=Hamacher |first1= Duane W.|last2=Frew |first2= David J.|year=2010|title=An Aboriginal Australian Record of the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae|journal=Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage|volume=13|issue=3
|pages=220–234|doi= 10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2010.03.06|arxiv=1010.4610|bibcode=2010JAHH...13..220H|s2cid= 118454721}}</ref> two brothers noted for their courage and destructiveness, who speared and killed Tchingal "The Emu" (the [[Coalsack Nebula]]).<ref name=stanbridge>{{cite journal|last=Stanbridge |first= W. M.|year=1857|title=On the Astronomy and Mythology of the Aboriginies of Victoria|journal=Transactions Philosophical Institute Victoria|volume=2|pages=137–140}}</ref> The form in [[Wergaia|Wotjobaluk]] is Bram-bram-bult.<ref name=hamacher/>