Alpha Crateris (α Crt, α Crateris) is a star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Crater. It has the traditional name Alkes, from the Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 الكاس alkās or الكأس alka's "the cup".

In the catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of Al Achsasi al Mouakket

Al Achsasi al Mouakket

Mohammad Al Achsasi Al Mouakket was an Egyptian astronomer whose calendarium and catalogue of stars, entitled Durret al Muddiah Fih al Aamal al Shamsiah , was written at Cairo about 1650.Al Achsasi was sheikh of the Grand Mosque of the University of Cairo, where his name al...

, this star was designated Aoul al Batjna (أول ألبجن awwil albajna), which was translated into Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 as Prima Crateris, meaning the first cup.

In Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, , meaning Wings

Wings (Chinese constellation)

The Wings mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the southern mansions of the Vermilion Bird.- Asterisms :...

 (asterism), refers to an asterism consisting of α Crateris, γ Crateris, ζ Crateris, λ Crateris, ν Hydrae

Nu Hydrae

Nu Hydrae is a Class K2, third-magnitude star in the constellation Hydra. Nu Hydrae is an orange giant star located about 140 light-years from Earth....

, η Crateris, δ Crateris

Delta Crateris

Delta Crateris is a star in the constellation Crater. Delta Crateris is an orange giant belonging to the spectral class K0, has apparent magnitude 3.56, and is 195 light years from Earth.-References:#...

, ι Crateris, κ Crateris, ε Crateris, HD 95808, HD 93833, θ Crateris, HD 102574, HD 100219, β Crateris

Beta Crateris

Beta Crateris is a star in the constellation Crater. Beta Crateris is a white sub-giant belonging to the spectral class A2, has apparent magnitude 4.48, and is about 265 light years from Earth.-Name:...

, HD 99922, HD 100307, HD 96819, χ¹ Hydrae, HD 102620 and HD 103462. Consequently, α Crateris itself is known as .

Structure

Alpha Crateris belongs to the spectral class

Stellar classification

In astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. The spectral class of a star is a designated class of a star describing the ionization of its chromosphere, what atomic excitations are most prominent in the light, giving an objective measure...

 K1, has apparent magnitude

Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 4.07, and is 174 light years from Earth.

Namesakes

USS Alkes (AK-110)

USS Alkes (AK-110)

USS Alkes was an commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II, named after Alkes, the alpha star in constellation Crater. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.SS Increase A...

 was a United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 Crater class cargo ship

Crater class cargo ship

Crater-class cargo ship is a category of freighter that was constructed for use by the United States Navy during World War II under Maritime Commission EC2-S-C1 type....

named after the star.