A bunch of stars just got renamed, including Alpha Centauri

[katateochi]

But did they even consult the small furry creatures to ask if it was ok to change the name? 
In case you missed the reference:

Quote

“In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.”

I guess the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council and the Vogons will be a bit upset about this too. 

My point (although put in a daft kinda way) is that as Alpha Centauri is referenced in a lot of literature, this change kinda undermines that. To me it just seems like change for the sake of change and (as @todofwar said) to justify it's existence. 

Edited November 30, 2016 by katateochi

[YNM]

1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

Afaik, they were always Sirius A and Sirius B. Or just Sirius as "a star visible from the Earth", i.e. both at once or the largest component.

I.e. they legalized at least one misspelling.

So it will be Rigil Kent. A and Rigil Kent. B. Not much difference.

1 hour ago, cantab said:

Well actually the Arabic spelling is رجل

Arabic writing is an abjad - the vowels are close to irrelevant.

5 minutes ago, katateochi said:

... as Alpha Centauri is referenced in a lot of literature, this change kinda undermines that. To me it just seems like change for the sake of change and (as @todofwar said) to justify it's existence.

If you use Stellarium or such softwares often you'll already knew it.

[kerbiloid]

43 minutes ago, YNM said:

Arabic writing is an abjad - the vowels are close to irrelevant.

This is a Romanized spelling of Arabic word in Latin letters. So, at least one case is invalid: either rigel, or rigil, but not both at once.

Agan, in wut language is "Kentaurus"?.. Centaurus or Kentauros?

[YNM]

Arabic ?

yeah, centaur is certainly not arabic, but...

Edited November 30, 2016 by YNM

[kerbiloid]

"Rig*l" is from romanized رجل القنطور‎ [riʤl al-qanatûr] 

Centaur is Greek Κένταυρος , Latin centaurus

Edited November 30, 2016 by kerbiloid

[YNM]

You answered it yourself then... q -> k is closer than c -> k.

qanatur -> kentaur ? kentaurus ?

hmm, someone should summon IPA to IAU...

[kerbiloid]

I mean: if they write this in Latin, then it would be Centaurus (or more accurate, Centauri), as also the official constellation name is.

If they mean the earliest known original language of this word, i.e. Ancient Greek, it would be Kentauros.

In Arabian version there is no -*s at all.

But Kentaurus is a l33tspeak. Or a Kerbalatin.

Edited November 30, 2016 by kerbiloid

[Green Baron]

Ok, to sum up:

Rigil has Arabian roots like many other stars in the northern sky.

The pronunciation, especially the difference between Rigel and Rigil is unclear, because of discrimination of vocals in Arabian. Which is true. English translation on roadsigns in Arabian countries can have a different spelling on each side of the town. Mlja, Mleja, Mlija, Mlekha, .... where do you want to go ?

Centaurus is the nominative of centaur in Latin (there's no K in the Latin alphabet, the C is pronounced as K), Greek is similar, but has a K, which is pronounced as the Latin C, hence we know that the Latin C is a Greek K. Centauri is the Latin genitive of Centaurus.

Which means:

Greek is more kerbal than Latin and the Romans never invaded Kerbin or we'd know it as Cerbin today.

Savvy :-) ?

Edited November 30, 2016 by Green Baron
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