Star Gazing

[Ken Hutchinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 154016

> Geoff:
> You left out Bellatrix and the "boys".
> 
> The star references are:
> Sirius...       alpha Canis Major (Great Dog)
> Regulus...   alpha Leo (Lion)
> Bellatrix...  gamma Orion
> 
> Andromeda seems to be the name if a constellation and not a star.
> 
> The odd one out seems to be Narcissa, which I would link to Narcissus in Greek 
> mythology.
> 
> Anyone point me to a star Narcissa?
>

Alphard is a star too. I thought there were a few others but I don't have
a list handy. I have never run across a reference to a star named 
Narcissa, I don't believe she has an astronomical name.

Andromeda is indeed a constellation rather than a star. It is the home
to the largest galaxy in the group that our own Milky Way belongs to. It
is one of the few external galaxies that are visible to the naked eye and 
by far the farthest away, the others being the two clouds of Magellan 
and possibly the star cluster omega Centauri. You have to be close to 
the equator or in the southern hemisphere to see those three.

Rowling often uses a heavy dose of whimsy in her place and character
names. You have to wonder how she avoided the temptation to use 
the star name Zubenelgenubi as a character name.

Ken