Editing Alnitak (section)

==Etymology and cultural significance==
ζ Orionis ([[Orthographic Latinisation of Greek|Latinised]] as ''Zeta Orionis'') is the star system's [[Bayer designation]] and ''50 Orionis'' its [[Flamsteed designation]].

The traditional name ''Alnitak'', alternately spelled Al Nitak or Alnitah, is taken from the [[Arabic]] النطاق ''an-niṭāq'', "the girdle".<ref name="allen">{{Cite book |last=Allen |first=Richard Hinckley |url=https://archive.org/details/StarNamesAndTheirMeanings |title=Star-names and their meanings |date=1899 |publisher=G.E. Stechert |location=New York, Leipzig |pages=314–15}}</ref> In 2016, the [[International Astronomical Union]] organized a [[Working Group on Star Names]] (WGSN)<ref name="WGSN">{{cite web | url=https://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/ | title=IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)|access-date=22 May 2016}}</ref> to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016<ref name="WGSN1">{{cite web | url=http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/WGSN_bulletin1.pdf | title=Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. 1 |access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included ''Alnitak'' for the star ζ Orionis Aa. It is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.<ref name="IAU-CSN">{{cite web | url=http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/IAU-CSN.txt | title=IAU Catalog of Star Names |access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref>

===Orion's Belt===
{{Main|Orion's Belt}}
[[File:Orion Belt.jpg|thumb|left|[[Orion's Belt]] with Alnitak on the left]]
The three belt stars were collectively known by many names in many cultures. [[Arabic]] terms include النجاد ''Al Nijād'' 'the Belt', النسك ''Al Nasak'' 'the Line', العلقات ''Al Alkāt'' 'the Golden Grains or Nuts' and, in modern Arabic, ميزان الحق ''Al Mīzān al Ḥaqq'' 'the Scale of Justice'. In [[Chinese mythology]] they were known as The Weighing Beam.<ref name=allen/>

The belt was also the [[Three Stars (Chinese constellation)|Three Stars]] mansion ({{zh|t=參宿|s=参宿|p=Shēn Xiù}}), one of the [[twenty-eight mansions]] of the [[Chinese constellations]]. It is one of the western mansions of the [[White Tiger (Chinese astronomy)|White Tiger]].

In [[Chinese astronomy|Chinese]], {{lang|zh|參宿}} ({{lang|zh-Latn|Shēn Xiù}}), meaning [[Three Stars (Chinese constellation)|Three Stars]] (asterism), refers to an asterism consisting of Alnitak, [[Alnilam]] and [[Mintaka]] (Orion's Belt), with [[Betelgeuse]], [[Bellatrix]], [[Saiph]] and [[Rigel]] later added.<ref>{{in lang|zh}} ''中國星座神話'', written by 陳久金. Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, {{ISBN|978-986-7332-25-7}}.</ref> Consequently, the [[Chinese star names|Chinese name]] for Alnitak is {{lang|zh|參宿一}} ({{lang|zh-Latn|Shēn Xiù yī}}, {{langx|en|the First Star of Three Stars}}).<ref>{{in lang|zh}} [http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0605/ap060525.html AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 5 月 25 日] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716122642/http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0605/ap060525.html |date=2011-07-16 }}</ref> It is one of the western mansions of the [[White Tiger (Chinese astronomy)|White Tiger]].