Talk:Alpha Monocerotis

Lucida?

It would be nice if there were a more precise indication of the source for the traditional name reported as Lucida. In older astronomical works (back in the days when all scientists spoke fluent Latin), the term lucida was the standard designation for the most luminous star of a particular constellation or asterism (see, for instance, Richard Hinckley Allen's Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning)—often the Alpha star in the Bayer designation system. Thus, Sirius, for example, would be the lucida of Canis Major. I suspect, therefore, that someone might have misread the original source as giving Lucida as the name of α Mon, when in actual fact it was only a technical term Vremya 00:40, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

All constellation have lucida. The lucida of the constellation Monoceros (lucida Monocerotis in Latin) is β Monocerotis, not α Monocerotis. See List of stars in Monoceros.

Allen wrote in his Star-Names (p.290):

α, the lucida, is Fl. 30, of 3.6 magnitude.

But Fl.30 Monocerotis is now C Hydrae (C Hya) within the constellation Hydra. Who designated it as α?--Bay Flam 00:43, 13 January 2008 (UTC)