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A giant orange star, and a source of infrared radiation. Its constellation of
Monoceros is not populated by bright stars, and despite its 'alpha' designation
this is a faint object (in fact marginally fainter than Beta Monocerotis) with a magnitude of just +3.9.
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.
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