[the_old_crowd] Black family names (astronomy)

[Monika Huebner]

On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 06:09:10 -0000, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)"
<catlady at ...> wrote:

>Sirius is the Dog Star in Canis Major.

It's also one of the brightest stars in the sky, and the brightest
star in that constellation.

>Regulus is a star in Leo.

And of the same magnitude as Sirius. They are equal in brightness.

>Bellatrix is a star in Orion.

Though not the brightest star in that constellation. In Greek
mythology, Orion is the hunter, and Sirius, the Dog Star, is his dog.
So in a certain sense, the hunter has killed his dog.

>Andromeda is a constellation.

It's also the name of King Kepheus' daughter in Greek mythology.
Andromeda's mother claimed she was more beautiful than the daughters
of King Nereus, the Nereids, who became so angry about it that their
friend Poseidon sent a flood drowning the land of King Kepheus, as
well as a fish that devoured everything. Then there was a prophecy
that said that Andromeda had to be sacrificed to the fish to get rid
of those plagues. Her father was so desperate that he chained her to a
rock from which she was rescued by Perseus.

>The other person of whom we know in that generation is Narcissa 
>(mother of Draco, another constellation). I've read several posts 
>that claim that Narcissus is also an astronomical name. I haven't 
>been able to find astronomical Narcissus on Google, can someone point 
>me? 

I have never heard of it either, at least it's not a well known name
if it exists.

>Rastaban is beta Draconis. Was that the name of Rodolphus 
>Lestrange's brother (the fourth man of the Pensieve Four)?

Yes.

>Sirius's Uncle Alphard left him enough money to buy a place of his
>own at age 17 (which I imagine to be a small house rather than a 
>flat). The star named ALPHARD is alpha Hydrae. This suggests that 
>Sirius's father and Bellatrix's father (and Sirius's mother, if she 
>was a double Black) also had astronomical names. Any mention of them?

No, I was looking for references like this during my second read, but
there weren't any. Hydra is one of Hercules's tasks in Greek mythology
(just for the sake of completeness :)).

>"Aunt Elladora" might have been some kind of great-aunt, great-great- 
>aunt ... she started the custom of beheading House Elves when they 
>were too old to carry a tea-tray ... how years would it take for 
>enough House Elves to grow old for their heads to line the whole 
>stairway? 

AFAIK, we don't know how old House Elves can become. Kreacher is said
to look very old, much older than Dobby, but we aren't told how old
exactly. 

Monika