Editing Algol (section)

==Names==
[[File:PerseusCC.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Algol is a bright star in the constellation of Perseus (upper right).]]

''Beta Persei'' is the star's [[Bayer designation]].

===The official name Algol===
The name ''Algol'' derives from [[Arabic language|Arabic]] {{lang|ar|رأس الغول}} ''raʾs al-ghūl'' : head (''raʾs'') of the ogre (''al-ghūl'') (see "[[ghoul]]").<ref>P.&nbsp;Kunitzsch & T.&nbsp;Smart, ''Short Guide to Modern Star Names and Their Derivations'' (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1986), p 49.</ref> The English name Demon Star was taken from the Arabic name.<ref name=allen1899>{{cite book | last=Allen | first=R. H. | date=1963 | orig-year=1899 | author-link=Richard Hinckley Allen | title=Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning | url=https://archive.org/details/starnamestheirlo00alle/page/331 | edition=Reprint | publisher=Dover Publications Inc. | location=New York | isbn=978-0-486-21079-7 | page=[https://archive.org/details/starnamestheirlo00alle/page/331 331] | url-access=registration }}</ref> In 2016, the [[International Astronomical Union]] organized a [[IAU Working Group on Star Names|Working Group on Star Names]] (WGSN)<ref name="WGSN">{{cite web | url=https://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/ | title=IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)|access-date=22 May 2016}}</ref> to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016<ref name="WGSN1">{{cite web | url=http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/WGSN_bulletin1.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/WGSN_bulletin1.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live | title=Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. 1 |access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included ''Algol'' for this star. It is so entered on the IAU Catalog of Star Names.<ref name="IAU-CSN">{{cite web | url=http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/IAU-CSN.txt | title=IAU Catalog of Star Names |access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref>

===Ghost and demon star===
Algol was called ''Rōsh ha Sāṭān'' or "Satan's Head" in Hebrew folklore, as stated by [[Edmund Chilmead]], who called it "Divels head" or ''Rosch hassatan''. A [[Latin]] name for Algol from the 16th century was ''Caput Larvae'' or "the Spectre's Head".<ref name=allen1899/> [[Hipparchus]] and [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] made this a separate, though connected, constellation.<ref name=allen1899/>

===First star of Medusa's head===
Earlier the name of the constellation ''Perseus'' was ''Perseus and Medusa's Head'' where an asterism representing the head of Medusa after Perseus has cut it off already known in ancient Rome.<ref name="vitru9cap4.2">{{cite web | url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/9*.html#4.2 | title=Marcus Vitruvius Pollio: de Architectura, Book IX | access-date=8 October 2023}}</ref> Medusa is a [[gorgon]] so the star is also called ''Gorgonea Prima'' meaning the first star of the gorgon.<ref name=allen1899/>

===Chinese names===
In [[Chinese astronomy|Chinese]], {{lang|zh|大陵}} ({{lang|zh-Latn|Dà Líng}}), meaning ''[[Stomach (Chinese constellation)|Mausoleum]]'', refers to an asterism consisting of β Persei, [[9 Persei]], [[Tau Persei|τ Persei]], [[Iota Persei|ι Persei]], [[Kappa Persei|κ Persei]], [[Rho Persei|ρ Persei]], [[16 Persei]] and [[12 Persei]]. Consequently, the [[Chinese star names|Chinese name]] for β Persei itself is {{lang|zh|大陵五}} ({{lang|zh-Latn|Dà Líng wu}}, English: The Fifth Star of Mausoleum.).<ref>{{in lang|zh}} [http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0607/ap060711.html AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) <span lang="zh>天文教育資訊網2006年7月11日</span>] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204114123/http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0607/ap060711.html |date=2012-02-04 }}</ref> According to R.H. Allen the star bore the grim name of ''Tseih She'' {{lang|zh|積屍}} ({{lang|zh-Latn|Zhi Shī}}), meaning "Piled up Corpses"<ref name=allen1899/> but this appears to be a misidentification, and ''Dié Shī'' is correctly [[Pi Persei|π Persei]], which is inside the Mausoleum.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/perseus.htm#chinese| title = Ian Ridpath's ''Star Tales'' – Perseus}}</ref>