Alpha Arietis - in Culture

In Culture

Hamal's orientation with relation to the Earth's orbit around the Sun gives it a certain importance not apparent from its modest brightness. Between 2000 and 100 BCE, the apparent path of the Sun through the Earth's sky placed it in Aries at the northern vernal equinox, the point in time marking the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This is why most astrology columns in modern newspapers begin with Aries. While the vernal equinox has moved to Pisces since then due to precession of the equinoxes, Hamal has remained in mind as a bright star near what was apparently an important place when people first studied the night sky.

The name Hamal (also written Hemal, Hamul, Ras Hammel) derives from the Arabic راس الحمل rās al-ħamal "head of the ram", in turn from the name for the constellation as a whole, Al Ħamal "the ram". In Chinese, 婁宿 (Lóu Su), meaning Bond (asterism), refers to an asterism consisting of α Arietis, β Arietis and γ Arietis. Consequently, α Arietis itself is known as 婁宿三 (Lóu Su sān, English: the Third Star of Bond.) The other name of Hamal, Hamul, is used for the name of United States navy ship, USS Hamul (AD-20).