Alpha Monocerotis

A giant yellow star, and a source of unusually high levels of infrared radiation. Its constellation of Monoceros is not populated by significantly bright stars, and despite its 'alpha' designation this is a faint object (in fact marginally fainter than Beta Monocerotis) with a magnitude of just +3.94.

A very few sources give the proper name Samoht for this star, but these references are so rare that is difficult to verify this as a traditional name for Alpha Monocerotis. It is immediately apparent that the name is a backward spelling of Thomas, which perhaps implies a similar origin to the names of the stars Sualocin and Rotanev in Delphinus. Those star-names originated from an inverted spelling of the personal name Nicolaus Venator, and perhaps some similar creative process lies behind Samoht.