Albaldah

Authors: Roland Laffitte, Susanne M Hoffmann, Youla Azkarrula

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Albaldah (البلدة) is a modern star name adopted by the International Astronomical Union in the IAU-Catalog of Star Names (IAU-CSN). Its origin is Arabic. It is the name of HIP 94141 (π Sgr, HR 7264) in constellation Sgr.

Etymology and History

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Albaldah (CC BY Roland Laffitte 2025).

The name of the 21st Arabic lunar station, البلدة, Al-Baldah (The empty area), designates a starless region between ζ Sgr and α Cap; the star π Sgr is at its northern edge and was wrongly attributed with this name by Allen (1899, 359).

Roland Laffitte (2025):

Introduit au début du XX^e siècle, et aujourd’hui approuvé par l’UAI, c’est l’arabe al-Balda, soit « le Lieu [vide] », situé au-dessous de la Tête du Sagittaire, nom de la XXI^e station lunaire avant d’être affecté à π Sgr. Ar. : Mālik b. Anas, Ibn Qutayba, lat. ’Abelda’ et ‘Albelda’, Alchandre. Bien plus tard, not. al-Tīzīnī > ‘Al Beldah’, Hyde, ‘El-Belda’, Ideler, ‘Al Balda’. Fr. Albaldah, BdL (1908).). Ar. : Mālik b. Anas, Ibn Qutayba, not. Al-Tīzīnī > ‘Al Baldah’, Allen > fr. Albaldah, BdL (1908), Nit. 02, mais Al Baldah, Rhoads, etc., Simbad, UAI.

AUTRE NOM : Nayyir al-Balda. Ar. نيّرالبلدة Nayyir al-Balda, « la Brillante du Lieu [vide] », al-Aḫsāsī, > ‘Nir al Beldat’ c/ Knobel. Aussi : Alnair, Allen > Staal < Nayyir al-Balda, « la Brillante du Lieu [vide] », al-Aḫsāsī, ‘Nir al Beldat’, Knobel, qui devient ‘Al Nā’ir’ c/ Allen > Al Nair, Staal, Nit. 02, Nir el Beldat, Wiki.

AUTRES NOMS : Alsadira Secunda. Ar. الصادرة [النعايم]. Cette étoile fait partie du groupe ζστφ Sgr; pour les explications, se reporter à φ Sgr . Pour ς Sgr, nous avons, via M. A. Sédillot, Aldadira Secunda, BdL (1908), via Knobel, ‘Thani al Sadirah – Secunda τῶν Al Sadirah’ (p/ ϕ Sgr). Auj. Awal al Sadira, Sadira, Wiki. NB. : Alnam, soit l’ar. al-Na^cām, « les Autruches », p/ μ Sgr, Rhoads, sans suite. NB : on trouve Nam al Sadira III et IV p/ χ¹ et χ² Sgr c/ Rhoads. Var.            Al Sadira Schweiger-Lerchenfeld p/ σ Sgr, Sadira, Rumrill, Hoffleit. Nit. 01.

English:

Introduced in the early 20th century and now approved by the UAI, this is the Arabic term al-Balda, meaning “the [empty] Place,” located below the Head of Sagittarius; it was the name of the 21st lunar station before being assigned to π Sgr. Ar.: Mālik b. Anas, Ibn Qutayba; Lat. ’Abelda’ and ‘Albelda’, Alchandre. Much later, notably al-Tīzīnī > ‘Al Beldah’, Hyde, ‘El-Belda’, Ideler, ‘Al Balda’. Fr. Albaldah, BdL (1908).). Arabic: Mālik b. Anas, Ibn Qutayba, notably Al-Tīzīnī > ‘Al Baldah’, Allen > French Albaldah, BdL (1908), Nit. 02, but Al Baldah, Rhoads, etc., Simbad, UAI.

ALTERNATIVE NAME: Nayyir al-Balda. Arabic: نيّرالبلدة Nayyir al-Balda, “the Bright One of the [Empty] Place,” al-Aḫsāsī, > ‘Nir al Beldat’ according to Knobel. Also: Alnair, Allen > Staal < Nayyir al-Balda, “the Bright One of the [Empty] Place,” al-Aḫsāsī, ‘Nir al Beldat’, Knobel, which becomes ‘Al Nā’ir’ c/ Allen > Al Nair, Staal, Nit. 02, Nir el Beldat, Wiki.

OTHER NAMES: Alsadira Secunda. Ar. الصادرة [النعايم]. This star is part of the ζστφ Sgr group; for explanations, see φ Sgr. For ς Sgr, we have, via M. A. Sédillot, Aldadira Secunda, BdL (1908), via Knobel, ‘Thani al Sadirah – Secunda τῶν Al Sadirah’ (for ϕ Sgr). Currently: Awal al Sadira, Sadira, Wiki. NB: Alnam, i.e., the Arabic al-Nacām, “the Ostriches,” for μ Sgr, Rhoads, no further details. NB: Nam al Sadira III and IV are found for χ1 and χ2 Sgr according to Rhoads. Var.            Al Sadira Schweiger-Lerchenfeld for σ Sgr, Sadira, Rumrill, Hoffleit. Nit. 01.

IAU Working Group on Star Names

The name was adopted by the IAU WGSN on 2017/09/05.

Weblinks

• Website of the IAU WGSN: https://exopla.net/

Reference

• References (general)
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