- Perseus (the Hero) may be the champion not only of Andromeda but also of unnamed stars as well. The top two, Mirfak (Alpha) and Algol (Beta) have proper names, and then the list stops until we arrive at number 10, a fourth magnitude star called “Atik” and Bayer’s “Omicron” star. Fainter yet is number 12 in brightness, mid-fourth magnitude Menkib (Bayer’s “Xi”).
- Gacrux (stars.astro.illinois.edu)
GACRUX (Gamma Crucis). In our “western” star lore, the stars with proper names come from the set that could be seen from the lands of the ancient middle east and Arabia, and do not include those of the far southern hemisphere, which is largely invisible below the horizon from northern lands. Yet those who needed the stars to find their way, the old navigators, also needed quick names for some of the stars and just made them up. “Gacrux” is a prime example of such a star, its name deriving strictly from its Greek letter name, Gamma Crucis, the third-brightest star in the constellation Crux, the Southern Cross.