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Stellar designations and names
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{{Short description|Process by which stars are named}} [[File:New Stellar Streams Confirm ‘Melting Pot’ History of the Galaxy (noao1801c).tiff|right|thumb|upright=1.7|The trend toward ever more catalogued objects in the Universe]] In astronomy, stars have a variety of different '''stellar designations and names''', including [[Star catalogue|catalogue designations]], current and historical [[proper name]]s, and foreign language names. Only a tiny minority of known stars have [[named stars|proper names]]; all others have only designations from various catalogues or lists, or no identifier at all. [[Hipparchus]] in the 2nd century BC enumerated about 850 naked-eye stars. [[Johann Bayer]] in 1603 listed about twice this number. Only in the 19th century did star catalogues list the naked-eye stars exhaustively. The [[Bright Star Catalogue]], which is a [[star catalogue]] listing all stars of [[apparent magnitude]] 6.5 or brighter, or roughly every star visible to the [[naked eye]] from [[Earth]], contains 9,096 stars.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/Cat?V/50| title = The Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed. (Preliminary Version)}}</ref> The most voluminous modern catalogues list on the order of a billion stars, out of an estimated total of 200 to 400 billion in the [[Milky Way]]. Proper names may be historical, often transliterated from Arabic or Chinese names. Such transliterations can vary so there may be multiple spellings. A smaller number of names have been introduced since the Middle Ages, and a few in modern times as nicknames have come into popular use, for example ''Sualocin'' for [[α Delphini]] and ''Navi'' for [[γ Cassiopeiae]]. The [[International Astronomical Union]] (IAU) has begun a process to select and formalise unique proper names for the brighter naked-eye stars and for other stars of popular interest. To the IAU, ''name'' refers to the (usually colloquial) term used for a star in everyday speech, while "''designation'' is solely alphanumerical" <!--sic, see Bayer designation, variable star designation, etc-->and used almost exclusively in official catalogues and for professional astronomy. Many of the names and some of the designations in use today were inherited from the time before the IAU existed. Other designations are being added all the time. As of the start of 2019, the IAU had decided on a little over 300 proper names, mostly for the brighter naked-eye stars.<ref name="IAU-LSN">{{cite web | url=https://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming_stars/ | title=Naming Stars |publisher=IAU.org |access-date=2019-01-17}}</ref> == Proper names == {{main article|List of proper names of stars}} {{main article|IAU Working Group on Star Names}} Several hundred of the [[brightest stars]] had traditional names, most of which derived from [[Arabic language|Arabic]], but a few from [[Latin]].<ref>[[NASA]] in 1971 compiled a "technical memorandum" collecting a total of 537 named stars. [https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19720005197 Rhoads, J. W.,''Technical Memorandum 33-507 – A Reduced Star Catalog Containing 537 Named Stars'', NASA-CR-124573 (1971).] </ref> There were a number of problems with these names, however: * Spellings were often not standardized ([[Gamma Andromedae|Almach]] or Almaach or Almak or Alamak) * Many stars had more than one name of roughly equal popularity ([[Alpha Persei|Mirfak]] or Algenib or Alcheb; [[Gamma Velorum|Regor]] or Suhail al Muhlif; [[Eta Ursae Majoris|Alkaid]] or Benetnasch; [[Alpha Coronae Borealis|Gemma]] or Alphecca; [[Alpha Andromedae|Alpheratz]] and Sirrah) * Because of imprecision in old [[star catalog]]s, it was not always clear exactly which star within a constellation a particular name corresponded to (e.g., Alniyat could refer to [[Sigma Scorpii]] or [[Tau Scorpii]]). * Some stars in entirely different constellations had the same name: [[Alpha Persei|Algenib in Perseus]] and [[Gamma Pegasi|Algenib in Pegasus]]; [[Gienah in Cygnus]] and [[Gienah in Corvus]], [[Alpha Gruis|Alnair in Grus]] and [[Zeta Centauri|Alnair in Centaurus]]. In 2016, the [[IAU]] organized a [[IAU Working Group on Star Names|Working Group on Star Names]] (WGSN)<ref name="WGSN">{{cite web | url=https://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/ | title=IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)|access-date=22 May 2016}}</ref> to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin dated July 2016<ref name="WGSN1">{{cite web | url=http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/WGSN_bulletin1.pdf | title=Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. 1 |access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref> included a table of 125 stars comprising the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN (on 30 June and 20 July 2016) together with names of stars (including four traditional star names: [[Epsilon Tauri|Ain]], [[Iota Draconis|Edasich]], [[Gamma Cephei|Errai]] and [[Fomalhaut]]) reviewed and adopted by the IAU Executive Committee Working Group on Public Naming of Planets and Planetary Satellites during the 2015 NameExoWorlds campaign<ref name="IAUresults">[http://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1514/ Final Results of NameExoWorlds Public Vote Released], International Astronomical Union, 15 December 2015.</ref> and recognized by the WGSN. Further batches of names were approved on 21 August, 12 September, 5 October and 6 November 2016. These were listed in a table of 102 stars included in the WGSN's second bulletin dated November 2016.<ref name="WGSN2">{{cite web | url=http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/WGSN_bulletin2.pdf | title=Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. 2 |access-date=12 October 2016}}</ref> The next additions were done on 1 February 2017 (13 new star names), 30 June 2017 (29), 5 September 2017 (41), 17 November 2017 (3) and 1 June 2018 (17). All 330 names are included in the current List of IAU-approved Star Names, last updated on 1 June 2018 (with a minor correction posted on 11 June 2018).<ref name="IAU-LSN"/> In practice, names are only universally used for the very [[list of brightest stars|brightest stars]] ([[Sirius]], [[Arcturus]], [[Vega]], etc.) and for a small number of slightly less bright but "interesting" stars ([[Algol]], [[Polaris]], [[Mira]], etc.). For other naked eye stars, the [[Bayer designation|Bayer]] or [[Flamsteed designation]] is often preferred. In addition to the traditional names, a small number of stars that are "interesting" can have modern [[English language|English]] names. For instance, two second-magnitude stars, [[Alpha Pavonis]] and [[Epsilon Carinae]], were assigned the proper names Peacock and Avior respectively in 1937 by [[Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office]] during the creation of ''The Air Almanac'', a navigational almanac for the [[Royal Air Force]]. Of the fifty-seven stars included in the new almanac, these two had no traditional names. The RAF insisted that all of the stars must have names, so new names were invented for them.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.hmnao.com/nao/history/dhs_gaw/nao_perhist_0802_cyh_part_2.pdf | title=A Personal History of H.M. Nautical Almanac Office | first=Donald H. | last=Sadler | date=2008 | work=[[United Kingdom Hydrographic Office]] | access-date=2010-09-26 | archive-date=2010-12-25 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225000825/http://www.hmnao.com/nao/history/dhs_gaw/nao_perhist_0802_cyh_part_2.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> These names have been approved by the IAU WGSN.<ref name="IAU-LSN"/> The book ''[[Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning]]'' by R. H. Allen (1899)<ref>{{cite book | title=Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning | author=Richard Hinckley Allen | date=1963-06-01 | publisher=[[Dover Publications]] | url=https://archive.org/details/starnamestheirlo00alle | isbn=((978-0486210797)) | url-access=registration }}</ref> has had effects on star names: *It lists many [[Akkadian language|Assyrian/Babylonian]] and [[Sumer]]ian star names recovered by [[archaeology]], and some of these (e.g. [[Theta Scorpii|Sargas]] and [[Sigma Sagittarii|Nunki]]) have since been approved by the IAU WGSN.<ref name="IAU-LSN"/> *It lists many [[Chinese star names]] (e.g. [[Tsih|Cih]] alias [[Tsih]]), though these have not come into general usage. *Allen represented the "kh" sound by 'h' with a [[Dot (diacritic)|dot]] above (ḣ) and at least one astronomy book (by [[Patrick Moore]]), using Allen as a source, has misread this unfamiliar letter as 'li'.<!--relevance of this trivial mistake?--> === Stars named for individuals === {{main article|Stars named after people}} A few stars are named for individuals. These are mostly names in common use that were taken up by the scientific community at some juncture. The first such case (discounting characters from mythology) was [[Cor Caroli]] (α CVn), named in the 17th century for [[Charles I of England]]. The remaining examples are mostly named after astronomers, the best known are probably [[Barnard's Star]] (which has the highest known [[proper motion]] of any star and is thus notable even though it is far too faint to be seen with the naked eye), [[Kapteyn's Star]] and recently [[Tabby's Star]]. The [[International Astronomical Union]] has held two [[NameExoWorlds]] contests to give proper names to exoplanets and their host stars, in 2014/5 and 2019.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1404/ |title=NameExoWorlds: An IAU Worldwide Contest to Name Exoplanets and their Host Stars |publisher=IAU.org |date=9 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nameexoworlds.iau.org/final-results|title=Approved names|website=NameExoworlds|language=en|access-date=2021-03-15}}</ref> As a result, several stars were named after people, including Cervantes for [[Mu Arae]], Copernicus for [[55 Cancri|55 Cancri A]],<ref name="IAUresults"/><ref name="IAUnames">{{cite web|url=http://nameexoworlds.iau.org/names|title=NameExoWorlds|website=nameexoworlds.iau.org|access-date=2018-02-12|archive-date=2018-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201043609/http://nameexoworlds.iau.org/names|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Rosalíadecastro]] (HD 149143) after the writer [[Rosalía de Castro]]. == Catalogue designations == In the absence of any better means of designating a star, catalogue designations are generally used. Many star catalogues are used for this purpose; see [[star catalogue]]s. ===By constellation=== The first modern schemes for designating stars systematically labelled them within their constellation. *The [[Bayer designation]] is such a system, published by [[Johann Bayer]] in 1603.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/bayer.htm|title=Bayer's Uranometria and Bayer letters|publisher=Ian Ridpath|access-date=2016-11-12}}</ref> It introduced a system of designating the brightest stars in each constellation by means of Greek (or less often Latin) letters, and is still widely used. Bayer generally assigned letters by magnitude class: 1st magnitude stars received the earliest letters in the alphabet, followed by 2nd magnitude stars, and so forth (though there are many exceptions). The original list of Bayer designations contained 1,564 naked-eye stars, and several stars not catalogued by Bayer have been added by subsequent astronomers. *The [[Flamsteed designation]] also lists stars by constellation, but by number rather than letter, ordering them by increasing right ascension rather than by decreasing brightness. These numbers were assigned not by Flamsteed himself but by the French astronomer J. J. Lalande in a French edition of Flamsteed's catalogue published in 1783.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/flamsteed.htm|title=Flamsteed numbers – where they really came from|publisher=Ian Ridpath|access-date=2016-11-12}}</ref> *The [[Gould designation]] for stars visible from the southern hemisphere, introduced by [[Benjamin Gould]] (1879), also lists stars by constellation, numbered by increasing right ascension. *[[Hevelius]] and [[Johann Elert Bode|Bode]] both numbered stars within constellations similarly. Their number systems have fallen out of use, but their designations even now are occasionally mistakenly treated as Flamsteed designations. [[47 Tucanae]], a number assigned by Bode, is a famous example. ===Full-sky catalogues=== Full-sky [[star catalogues]] detach the star designation from the star's constellation and aim at enumerating all stars with apparent magnitude greater than a given cut-off value. *The ''[[Histoire céleste française]]'' (1801) enumerated 47,390 stars to magnitude 9. *The ''[[Bonner Durchmusterung]]'' (1859) was the most complete star catalogue compiled without the aid of photography. It listed a total of 320,000 northern stars, expanded by the ''Cordoba Durchmusterung'' (1892) and the ''Cape Photographic Durchmusterung'' (1896). *The ''[[Henry Draper Catalogue]]'' (1924) listed 225,300 stars to magnitude 10, extended to a total of 359,083 in 1949. The HD numbers remain in widespread use for stars that do not have a Flamsteed or Bayer designation. *The ''[[Bright Star Catalogue]]'' of 1930 listed all stars brighter than magnitude 6. It was supplemented to include stars down to magnitude 7.1 in 1983. *The ''Catalogue astrographique'' was compiled between 1891 and 1950 with the aim of listing all stars to magnitude 11, resulting in a list of 4.6 million stars. It is under continued development, now under custody of the [[U.S. Naval Observatory]]. *The USNO-B1.0 catalogue contains over a billion objects, and is also under continued development at the U.S. Naval Observatory. *The online ''[[Guide Star Catalog|Guide Star Catalog II]]'' (2008) contains 945 million stars to magnitude 21. === Variable designations === {{main article|Variable star designation}} Variable stars that do not have Bayer designations are assigned designations in a variable star scheme that superficially extends the Bayer scheme with uppercase Latin letters followed by constellation names, starting with single letters R to Z, and proceeding to pairs of letters. Such designations mark them as variable stars. Examples include [[R Cygni]], [[RR Lyrae]], and [[28 Andromedae|GN Andromedae]]. (Many variable stars also have designations in other catalogues.) === Exoplanet searches === When a planet is detected around a star, the star is often given a name and number based on the name of the telescope or survey mission that discovered it and based on how many planets have already been discovered by that mission e.g. [[HAT-P-9]], [[WASP-1]], [[COROT-1]], [[Kepler-4]], [[TRAPPIST-1]]. == Sale of star names by non-scientific entities== Star naming rights are not available for sale via the IAU or any other scientific body. Rather, star names are selected on a non-commercial basis by a small number of international organizations of astronomers, scientists, and registration bodies, who assign names consisting usually of a Greek letter followed by the star's constellation name, or less frequently based on their ancient traditional name.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming/#stars| title = Naming of Astronomical Objects}}</ref> However, there are a number of non-scientific "star-naming" companies that offer to assign personalized nicknames to stars within their own private catalogs.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.starregistry.com/faq#collapsetwen7 | title = ISR FAQ}}</ref> These names are used only by that company and are only available for viewing on their web site or on purchased items. Names by commercial entities are not recognized by the astronomical community, or by competing star-naming companies.<ref name="IAU_buy_a_star_name">{{cite web | url=http://www.iau.org/public/themes/buying_star_names/ | title=Buying Stars and Star Names | first=Johannes | last=Andersen | publisher=[[International Astronomical Union]] | access-date=2013-06-04}}</ref> The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs has issued violation notices against companies which claimed to sell stars or the naming rights to them.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.almanac.com/can-you-really-name-star | title = The Business of Buying a Star}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/12/02/buying-a-star-for-a-holiday-gift-is-like-throwing-money-into-a-black-hole/ | title = Buying a star for a holiday gift is like 'throwing money into a black hole'| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> A survey conducted by amateur astronomers discovered that just over half of consumers would still want to "name a star" with a non-scientific star-naming company even though they have been warned or informed such naming is not recognized by the astronomical community.<ref name="Buying stars">{{cite web | url=http://www.delscope.co.uk/astronomy/namingstars.htm#surveyres | title=Naming and Buying Stars: What you should know | first=Derek | last=Haselden | publisher=Solent Amateur Astronomers | access-date=2020-08-24}}</ref> ==See also== {{Portal|Star}} * [[List of Arabic star names]] * [[NameExoWorlds]] * [[List of proper names of stars]] * [[Star Names|''Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning'']] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.ianridpath.com/starnames.html List of popular star names] * [https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/naming-stars The Naming of Stars] from the National Maritime Museum * [https://www.straightdope.com/21342002/can-you-pay-35-to-get-a-star-named-after-you The Straight Dope: Can you pay $35 to get a star named after you?] * [http://www.worldhistoryblog.com/2007/07/naming-stars.html Naming Stars] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221091506/http://www.worldhistoryblog.com/2007/07/naming-stars.html |date=2019-12-21 }} {{Star}} <!-- [[Category:Astronomy]] too general --> [[Category:Stars|Designation]] [[Category:Stellar astronomy|Designation]] [[Category:Astronomical nomenclature]]
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