(February 23, 2014 at 3:30 pm)Stimbo Wrote:(February 23, 2014 at 3:15 am)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: Regardless of what one could say the state of science in the Islamic world today - they (amongst others) were instrumental in keeping astronomy alive while the Christian world was stagnant for many centuries.
Most of the star names we still use today come from the Arabic - Algol (the demon star), Aldebaran, Vega, Arrakis (yes, it really exists), Fomalhaut etc. Not to mention my personal favourite, Zubenelgenubi.
Nowadays I guess all stars would be named Allah or Mohammed and you'd get your head chopped off for saying them.
The common names of the brightest stars that laymen tend to use these days, yes. For modern astronomers, it depends entirely on which catalog / nomenclature is being used.