Gamma Serpentis (γ Serpentis, γ Ser) is a star in the equatorial constellationSerpens, in the part of the constellation that represents the serpent's head (Serpens Caput). It has an apparent visual magnitude +3.85,[2] which means it is visible to the naked eye. Based upon parallax measurements by the Hipparcos spacecraft, this star is approximately 36.7 light years from Earth.[1]
Occasionally Gamma Serpentis is listed as having two 10th magnitude companions, but it appears that these stars are just optical neighbours.
Etymology
It was a member of indigenous Arabic asterismal-Nasaq al-Sha'āmī, "the Northern Line" of al-Nasaqān "the Two Lines",[11] along with β Her (Kornephoros), γ Her (Hejian, Ho Keen) and β Ser (Chow).[12]
According to the catalogue of stars in the Technical Memorandum 33-507 - A Reduced Star Catalog Containing 537 Named Stars, al-Nasaq al-Sha'āmī or Nasak Shamiya were the title for three stars:β Ser as Nasak Shamiya I, γ Ser as Nasak Shamiya II, γ Her as Nasak Shamiya III (exclude β Her).[13] The star was later given the proper name Ainalhai, from the Arabic عين الحية ‘Ayn al-Ḥayyah "the Serpent's Eye".
^ abcdefghMalagnini, M. L.; Morossi, C. (November 1990), "Accurate absolute luminosities, effective temperatures, radii, masses and surface gravities for a selected sample of field stars", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series, 85 (3): 1015–1019, Bibcode:1990A&AS...85.1015M
^Mermilliod, J.-C. (1986), "Compilation of Eggen's UBV data, transformed to UBV (unpublished)", Catalogue of Eggen's UBV Data. SIMBAD, Bibcode:1986EgUBV........0M.
^ abBi, S.-L.; Basu, Sarbani; Li, L.-H. (February 2008), "Seismological Analysis of the Stars γ Serpentis and ι Leonis: Stellar Parameters and Evolution", The Astrophysical Journal, 673 (2): 1093–1105, Bibcode:2008ApJ...673.1093B, doi:10.1086/521575.
^Kunitzsch, P., Smart, T. (2006), A Dictionary of Modern Star names: A Short Guide to 254 Star names and Their Derivations (Second Revised ed.), Cambridge, MA: Sky Publishing, p. 31, ISBN1-931559-44-9{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)