An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

The brightest star in → Andromeda with a visual magnitude of 2.07. Alpheratz is a blue → subgiant star of spectral type B8 IV lying at a distance of about 97 → light-years. It is particularly remarkable because of the unusual strength of mercury and manganese absorption lines in its spectrum.

Etymology (EN): Other names for this star are Alpherat, Sirrah, or Sirah. These names derive from Ar. As-Surrat al-Faras (السره‌الفرس) “The Horse’s Navel,” from surrat (سره) “navel” + faras (فرس) “horse”. The name refers to the location of the star in the figure of → Pegasus. However, the star is now considered to belong to the constellation → Andromeda.

Ra’s-ol-Mosalsalé, from Ar. Ar-Ra’s al-Mar’ah al-Musalsalah “The head of the chained woman,” from Ra’s “head” + Mar’ah “woman” + Musalsalah “chained”.