GENERAL ASTRONOMY ARTICLES

THE CONSTELLATIONS : Part 4
STAR USAGE and THEIR PROPER NAMES

GENERAL NOMENCLATURE

The brightest twenty-six stars, if there that many stars assigned, usually use the Greek Alphabet by decreasing magnitude in each constellation. As these we originally made by naked-eye observations, the order of brightest may be significantly alter the order now made by more exact means.

The GREEK ALPHABET

GENITIVE USE

WRITING STAR NAMES

When writing out star names it is far more practicable to use the shorthand abbreviations than the full name of Greek Letter and genitive of the constellation. This terminology was first used during 1930 when the standard constellation names were adopted. Each constellation abbreviation had initially four assigned letters (See The Constellations Names and Abbreviations : Part 2.), but this was soon and sensibly changed to the familiar three letters we now commonly use today. Some examples include;

Some stars can be in two constellations, but fortunately these are quite rare.

Specialised Designations

Some stars designations are now written for use with computers, mainly because keyboards are unable to type foreign and Roman letters simultaneously with easy. On-line object or star catalogues, like SIMBAD use different syntaxs; I.e. Bright stars are written *alp Tau meaning the “Star alpha Tauri” If stars have a bright as a visual companion star nearby, but is not actually visual double. I.e. δ^1,2 Apodis each have the stars designated individually *del1 Aps and *del2 Aps.

Proper Names

Most of the brightest stars in the sky usually have common or proper names, but most being only used for convenience when observers are talking about the stars. It is recommended that amateurs put the first twenty to memory. For the most prominent stars that are known, over one hundred to about one hundred and sixty-five stars are ‘officially used” by amateur or professional astronomers. Although most of these names have existed for centuries, they ar not officially accepted as universal names by the International Astronomical Union (I.A.U.) — even though they are normally sole world-wide recognised body that decides all astronomical nomenclature used by astronomers. Most stars with names are usually found within or near prominent constellations, but there is strong traditional historical preference that most given names appear in the skies in the northern hemisphere. This is because the northern constellations are related to the Ancient Greek or Roman mythology, and whose star names have been passed down through millenia. Most of the southern stars were only recognised in the western world since the first explorers left Europe and travelled to the southern hemisphere.

Stars are not the only celestial bodies to have recognised names. A few star clusters visible to the naked-eye also have names; the Pleiades, the Hyades, the Praesepe or Beehive; the Southern Pleiades and the brilliant Jewel Box (NGC 4755) or Gem Cluster (NGC 3293). Several other deep-sky objects have names too, like the Blue Planetary (NGC 3918), the Saturn Nebula (NGC 7009), Helix Nebula (NGC 7293 or the Silver Coin Galaxy (NGC 253) in Sculptor. Hundreds of names exist, but only a very few are popularly recognised.

Of southern stars, most of the modern constellations do not generally have proper names, except the brightest of stars like Canopus and Achernar, which date from the early middle ages. Others were sometimes named by the northern hemisphere observers, starting from about 1850 to 1870, when naming stars was fashionable. Examples of these include, Acrux (Alpha Crucis), Atria (Alpha Triangulum Australis), Hadar or Agena (Beta Centauri), Mimosa (Beta Crucis) or Miaplacidus (Beta Carinae), etc.

Some stars even date from the twentieth century, like Gacrux. This also applies to the second brightest star, Rigel Kentaurus or Toliman, likely named by the early aviators for general navigation purposes. Most astronomers still prefer to use just Alpha Centauri, as these other names never really ‘caught on’. In some ways Alpha Centauri is the proper name!

It is wrong to rename or unlawful sell star names, especially when they are no declaring the truth to people who know nothing about it. Whilst there is no official body monitoring or registering star names, and that people freely call any star what they like, it is still illegal to claim that some astronomical body officially supports such a name. Some charlatans have dared to have sold stars, by usually naming them after the individual who was suckered into buying some star, and issuing a certificate of authenticity. Seemingly, the brighter the star, then obviously, the higher its price! These fraudulent tricksters just wantonly play on the human emotions regarding immortality or remembering their name forever, presumably your name will be eternally placed in the sky among the seemingly innumerable stars.

Of course, this does not mean that star names cannot be added or changed. If many responses to particularly favoured names are suggested and they end up become commonly used, they could be accepted by astronomers. Although highly unlikely, submitting some name for ratification in an astronomy publication may work, though changing the brighter ones will never happen no matter what is said.

COMMON STAR NAMES

The Brightest Stars : By Magnitude

Table 2

* All stars above 2.00 magnitude

The Brightest Stars : By Right Ascension

Table 3

The Southern Brightest Stars : By Right Ascension

Table 4

The Northern Brightest Stars : By Right Ascension

Table 5

Last Update : 5th December 2010

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