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the faint star that ancient armies used as an eye exam.

means alcor is a dim star in the big dipper's handle, famous for being a naked-eye visual acuity test paired with its brighter neighbor mizar.

from named from arabic, roughly meaning the faint or forgotten one, since it hides so close to mizar that spotting it separately became a folk test of eyesight across ancient and medieval cultures.

for instance

mizar and alcorthe original naked-eye double star pair, big dipper handle

alcor life extensionarizona cryonics company borrowed the star's name

native american riddlealgonquin tribes used it as a vision test too

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