The names of the stars are a cultural mash-up. The names come from Greek, Latin, Arabic, and other cultures. And some names combine words from different languages. Two examples are the stars Tania Borealis and Tania Australis. “Tania” comes from an Arabic phrase that means “the second.” Borealis and Australis come from Latin, and mean northern and southern. Combined, the stars represent the second leap of the gazelle – a bit of skylore from Arabia.

Skywatchers there saw three close pairs of stars as the leaps of a gazelle. All three pairs are at the edge of the modern constellation Ursa Major, the great bear. The “Tanias” are above the stars that form the outer edge of the dipper’s bowl.

Tania Borealis is a single star that’s a good bit bigger, brighter, and heavier than the Sun. It’s at the end of the prime phase of life, so it’s undergoing big changes in its core. That’s causing its outer layers to begin to puff up to giant proportions.

Tania Australis is a binary – two stars bound together by their mutual gravitational pull. One of the stars is similar to the Sun. The other is more than six times the Sun’s mass, and it’s already reached the “giant” phase of life. It’s puffed up to about 75 times the Sun’s diameter, and it shines about a thousand times brighter. So Tania Australis looks a bit more impressive than its northern cousin – the brighter half of the second leap of the gazelle.

Script by Damond Benningfield