Gamma Boötis is a binary star in the constellation of Boötes. It is a Delta Scuti typevariable star with a period of 1.13 hours. Its brightness varies from magnitude +3.02 to +3.07. Based on parallax measurements obtained during the Hipparcos mission, it is approximately 85 light-years distant from the Sun. Gamma Boötis forms the primary or 'A' component of a double star system designated WDS J14321+3818. Gamma Boötis' two components are themselves designated WDS J14321+3818Aa and Ab.
Nomenclature
γ Boötis is the binary's Bayer designation. WDS J14321+3818 is the wider system's designation in the Washington Double Star Catalog. The designations of the two constituents as WDS J14321+3818A and B, and those of A's components - WDS J14321+3818Aa and Ab - derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog for multiple star systems, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union. Gamma Boötis bore the traditional name Ceginus, from cheguius or theguius, apparently Latin mistranscriptions of an Arabic rendering of Greek Boötes. Two possibilities have been suggested: from Arabic بوطس bwṭs, in one of the manuscripts of the Almagest, with undotted ب b mistaken for an undotted ث th, و w taken as w and spelled 'gu', and ط ṭ completely misread, or from Arabic بؤوتس bwʾwts, with undotted ب b mistaken for an undotted ث th, ؤ w-hamza mistaken for غ ġ, و w read as u, and undotted ن n misread as an undotted ى y and transcribed i – that is, as th-g-u-i-s with unwritten vowels filled in for theguius. In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star Names to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN decided to attribute proper names to individual stars rather than entire multiple systems. It approved the name Seginus for WDS J14321+3818Aa on 21 August 2016 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names. Gamma Boötis was listed as Haris in Bečvář, apparently derived from the Arabic name of the constellation of Boötes, Al-Haris Al-Sama meaning "the guard of the north". In the catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of Al Achsasi al Mouakket, this star was designated Menkib al Aoua al Aisr, which was translated into Latin as Humerus Sinister Latratoris, meaning 'the left shoulder of barker'. In Chinese astronomy, Gamma Boötis is called 招搖, Pinyin: Zhāoyáo, meaning Twinkling Indicator, because this star is marking itself and standing alone in Twinkling Indicatorasterism, Root mansion. 招搖, westernized into Chaou Yaou, but the name Chaou Yaou was designated for Beta Boötis by R.H. Allen and the meaning is "to beckon, excite, or move."
