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

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).

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Sagittarius with Arabic star names (CC BY Laffitte 2025).

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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