HOW TO NAMING THE STARS
Common Names
Most of the brighter stars in the sky have common names that are of historical and mythological significance. For example, the bright red star in the shoulder region of the constellation Orion (the Hunter) is called Betelgeuse, which comes from Arabic and means (roughly) "the armpit of the mighty one" (see adjacent figure). The brightest star in Orion is a blue-white star called Rigel that is situated at the opposite corner of the constellation from Betelgeuse (adjacent figure).As another example, the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) is situated near the aft portion of the beast and is called Deneb, which is also Arabic in origin and means "the tail of the hen".