Gienah

English translation: Cygnus (maybe, take with many grains of salt)

00:07 Sep 23, 2015
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Astronomy & Space
English term or phrase: Gienah
“At 20° North [the latitude of Hawai'i], GIENAH rises as the tail of Canis Major reaches the meridian.”
Source: http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/index/founder_and_teachers/nainoa_...

May someone help to tell whether GIENAH here refer to γ Corvi in Corvus or ε Cygni in Cygnus? Thanks!
updownK
China
Local time: 16:00
Selected answer:Cygnus (maybe, take with many grains of salt)
Explanation:
Both Cygnus and Corvus should be visible from the latitude of Hawaii - so that doesn't decide ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declination#Stars )

But I read the text as saying the declination of Gienah and Canis Major are separated by about 90 deg
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_(astronomy) ). That can't be true for Corvus which is only about 13 deg away, whereas Cygnus is about 75 deg = (42 - (-33)) away.

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Note added at 1 hr (2015-09-23 01:47:07 GMT)
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You might also look at "Galactic Coordinates & Reference Frames" on
http://www.handprint.com/ASTRO/galaxy.html
Selected response from:

DLyons
Ireland
Local time: 08:00
Grading comment
Thanks! Great answer!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
2 +1Cygnus (maybe, take with many grains of salt)
DLyons


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
gienah
Cygnus (maybe, take with many grains of salt)


Explanation:
Both Cygnus and Corvus should be visible from the latitude of Hawaii - so that doesn't decide ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declination#Stars )

But I read the text as saying the declination of Gienah and Canis Major are separated by about 90 deg
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_(astronomy) ). That can't be true for Corvus which is only about 13 deg away, whereas Cygnus is about 75 deg = (42 - (-33)) away.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2015-09-23 01:47:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

You might also look at "Galactic Coordinates & Reference Frames" on
http://www.handprint.com/ASTRO/galaxy.html

DLyons
Ireland
Local time: 08:00
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Thanks! Great answer!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Charles Davis: This is a more solid argument than I had; I thought it was probably ε Cygni because (a) Gienah alone usually means that by default, and (b) ε Cygni and Pira‘etea (Deneb; α Cygni) are an important pair of "meridian pointers to north" in Hawaiian navigation
55 mins
  -> Thanks Charles. I didn't know about the navigation - that's an important point.
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