A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek letter, followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. STAR is an acronym for: Organizations Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers], the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticket industry in the UK. Society for Telescopy, Astronomy, and Radio, a non-profit New Jersey astronomy club. ... The Greek alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Greek language since about the 9th century BCE. It was the first alphabet in the narrow sense, that is, a writing system using a separate symbol for each vowel and consonant alike. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Most of the brighter stars were assigned their first scientific names by the German astronomer Johann Bayer during the early 17th Century, in 1603, in his star atlas Uranometria (named after Urania, the Greek Muse of Astronomy). Johann Bayer traveled by sailing ship to various parts of the world, including the southern hemisphere, to conduct his astronomical observations and apply his data. Bayer assigned a lower-case Greek letter, such as alpha (α), beta (β), gamma (γ), etc, to each star he cataloged. Bayer then attached to each star’s Greek letter the Latin name of the star’s parent constellation in genitive or possessive form to indicate that the star belonged exclusively to that constellation. (See List of constellations for a list of constellations and the genitive forms of their names.) For example, Bayer assigned the Greek letter alpha (α) to a specific star in the constellation Taurus) the Bull, and added to the star’s Greek letter (α) the name Tauri, which is the genitive form of the Latin name Taurus, to indicate that the star belongs exclusively to Taurus the Bull. As a result, the star’s scientific name turned out to be α Tauri (that is to say Alpha Tauri), which means "Alpha of Taurus" or "Alpha of the Bull". A single constellation may contain fifty or more stars, but there are only twenty-four letters of the Greek alphabet, so, when he ran out of Greek letters to use for identifying the stars of a specific constellation, Bayer began using lower-case Latin letters. For example, Bayer assigned three stars in the constellation Carina as s Carinae, and another star in Centaurus as d Centauri, to indicate "s of the Keel" and "d of the Centaur", respectively. Within constellations having an extremely large number of stars, Bayer eventually advanced to upper-case Latin letters, ending with the upper-case letter "Q". For example, Bayer assigned a star in Scorpius the Scorpion the scientific name G Scorpii, which means "G of Scorpius" or "G of the Scorpion". Another example would be a star in Vela the Sails, called N Velorum, which means "N of Vela" or "N of the Sails".
An astronomer or astrophysicist is a person whose area of interest is astronomy or astrophysics. ... Johann Bayer (1572 – March 7, 1625) was a German astronomer. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Year 1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Uranometrias engraving of the constellation Orion, courtesy of the US Naval Observatory Library Uranometria is the short title of a star atlas produced by Johann Bayer. ... Simon Vouet, The Muses Urania and Calliope, c. ... In Greek mythology, the Muses (Greek , Mousai: perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- think[1]) are a number of goddesses or spirits who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music and dance. ... A giant Hubble mosaic of the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant Astronomy (also frequently referred to as astrophysics) is the scientific study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earths atmosphere (such as the cosmic background radiation). ... southern hemisphere highlighted in yellow (Antarctica not depicted). ... Observation is an activity of a sapient or sentient living being (e. ... For other uses, see Data (disambiguation). ... From the dawn of time, poop observed the sky and grouped stars into patterns or constellations. ... Taurus (IPA: , Latin: , symbol , ) is one of the constellations of the zodiac. ... For general information about the genus, including other species of cattle, see Bos. ... Carina (IPA: , Latin: ) is a southern constellation which forms part of the old constellation of Argo Navis. ... S Carinae (S Car) is a star in the constellation Carina. ... Centaurus (Latin for centaur) was one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy, and counts also among the 88 modern constellations. ... D Centauri (D Cen) is a binary star in the constellation Centaurus. ... Scorpius (, and Latin for scorpion) is one of the constellations of the zodiac. ... Superfamilies Pseudochactoidea Buthoidea Chaeriloidea Chactoidea Iuroidea Scorpionoidea See classification for families. ... G Scorpii (G Sco) is a star in the constellation Scorpius. ... Vela (IPA: , Latin: ) is a southern constellation, one of the four parts into which Argo Navis was split (the others being Carina, Puppis and Pyxis). ... A sail is a surface intended to generate thrust by being placed in a wind; basically it is a vertically oriented wing. ... HD 82668 (N Vel / N Velorum) is a star on the border between the constellations Carina and Vela. ...

Is Alpha Always the Brightest Star?

For the most part, Bayer assigned Greek and Latin letters to stars in order of apparent brightness, from brightest to dimmest, within a particular constellation. The brightest star in a particular constellation was assigned alpha (α), the second brightest beta (β), the third brightest gamma (γ), and so on. Since the brightest star in many constellations is designated as Alpha (α), many people wrongly assume that Bayer meant to put the stars exclusively in order of their brightness, but in his day there was no way to measure stellar brightness precisely. Traditionally, the stars were assigned to one of six magnitude classes, and Bayer's catalog lists all the first-magnitude stars, followed by all the second-magnitude stars, and so on. However within each magnitude class, there was no attempt to arrange stars by relative brightness. Bayer did not always assign Greek and Latin letters to stars in this manner. Bayer sometimes assigned letters to stars according to their location within a constellation (for example: the northern, southern, eastern, or western part of a constellation), according to the order in which a constellation’s stars rise in the east, according to the historical or mythological information on specific stars within a constellation, or according to his own random choosing. Usually the stars were roughly ordered from the head to the feet (or tail) of the figure (like the stars in the Big Dipper). The conclusion is that Alpha (α) is NOT always the brightest star in a constellation; in fact, of the 88 modern constellations, there are at least 30 constellations in which alpha (α) is not the brightest star, and 4 of those 30 lack an alpha (α) star altogether. Big Dipper map A group of the brightest stars of the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, form a well-known asterism that has been recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures from time immemorial. ...

Bayer Designations in Orion

Orion provides a good example of Bayer's method. (Remember that the lower the magnitude, the brighter the star. Additionally a "2nd-magnitude" star has a more precise magnitude between 1.51 and 2.50, inclusive.) Bayer first designated the two 1st-magnitude stars, Betelgeuse and Rigel, as Alpha and Beta, with Betelgeuse (the shoulder) coming ahead of Rigel (the foot), even though the latter is the brighter. This is a celestial map of the constellation Orion the Hunter. ... Betelgeuse (Alpha (α) Orionis) is a semiregular variable star located 427 light-years away [1]. It is the second brightest star in the constellation Orion, and the ninth brightest star in the night sky. ... Rigel (pronounced ) (β Orionis) is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the seventh brightest star in the sky, with visual magnitude 0. ... Bellatrix (γ Ori / γ Orionis / Gamma Orionis) is the third brightest star in the constellation Orion and the twenty-second brightest star in the nighttime sky. ... Mintaka, also known as δ Orionis, is one of the three stars of the belt of the Orion constellation. ... Alnilam, also known as ε Orionis or 46 Orionis, is a large blue star in the constellation of Orion. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Orion (IPA: ), a constellation often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation, one of the largest and perhaps the best-known and most conspicuous in the sky. ...

He then repeated the procedure for the stars of the 2nd-magnitude. As is evident from the map and chart, he again followed a "top-down" ("north-south") route.

The belt of Orion is composed of three bright stars Delta Orionis, Epsilon Orionis and Zeta Orionis, however, the brightest star in the belt is not delta but epsilon. Instead, Bayer named the stars of Orion's belt in the special order in which they rise in the east, first delta (δ), then the middle star epsilon (ε), then zeta (ζ). Delta Orionis (δ Ori) is one of the three stars of the belt of the constellation Orion. ... Epsilon Orionis (ε Ori / ε Orionis) is a large blue star in the constellation of Orion. ... Zeta Orionis is a star in the constellation Orion. ...

Various Bayer Designation Arrangements

This "First to Rise in the East" method is done in a number of other instances, even for Castor and Pollux of Gemini. Although Pollux is brighter than Castor, the latter was assigned alpha because it rises in the east ahead of the former. Bayer may also have assigned the stars Castor and Pollux in terms of historical or mythological knowledge. Both historically and mythologically, Castor's name is almost always mentioned first (Castor and Pollux) whenever the twins are mentioned, and that may have compelled him to assign alpha (α) to Castor and beta (β) to Pollux. Castor (α Gem / α Geminorum / Alpha Geminorum) is the second brightest star in the constellation Gemini and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. ... Pollux (β Gem / β Geminorum / Beta Geminorum) is one of the brightest star in the constellation Gemini and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. ... Gemini (IPA: , Latin: , symbol , ) is one of the constellations of the zodiac known as the twins. It is part of the winter sky, lying between Taurus to the west and the dim Cancer to the east, with Auriga and the near-invisible Lynx to the north and Monoceros and Canis...

Although the brightest star in Draco is Eltanin (Gamma Draconis), Thuban was assigned alpha (α) by Bayer because Thuban, in history, was once the North Star 4,000 years ago. Almost every star with a history of being the North Star, including Vega, Alderamin and Polaris, were designated as the alpha (α) of their parent constellations by Bayer. Gamma Draconis (γ Dra / γ Draconis) is a star in the constellation Draco. ... Thuban (α Dra / α Draconis / Alpha Draconis) is a star (or star system) in the constellation of Draco. ... Polaris is not exactly at the celestial pole, as this time-exposure photo shows. ... Vega (α Lyr / α Lyrae / Alpha Lyrae) is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the fifth brightest star in the sky and the second brightest star in the Northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus. ... Alderamin is the proper name of the star α Cephei in the constellation of Cepheus. ... Polaris (α UMi / α Ursae Minoris / Alpha Ursae Minoris), more commonly known as The North Star or simply North Star, is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. ...

Sometimes, indeed, there's no apparent order, as exemplified by the stars in Libra and Sagittarius, where Bayer assigned designations to stars at random. (The letters of the Greek alphabet were used in antiquity to represent the successive integers; so Bayer's scheme might be regarded as equivalent to a numbering system.) Libra (IPA: , Latin: , symbol , Unicode ) is a constellation of the zodiac. ... For other uses, see Sagittarius. ...

Revised Bayer Designations

When the International Astronomical Union (IAU) outlined the official 88 constellations with definite boundaries in 1930, some stars became borderlined between constellations. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) declared that stars and other celestial objects can only be assigned one, and only one, constellation. Consequently, these borderlined stars that lie very close to constellation boundaries were reassigned to one new official constellation and were given new Bayer designations in the process. For example, β Tau, formerly known as (γ Aur), and α And, formerly known as (δ Peg). Another star, σ Lib, was formerly known as γ Sco; however it is not on the boundary of Libra and Scorpius but well inside Libra. In addition, there are even cases where a star has a designation for a constellation in which it does not lie (according to the modern constellation boundaries). Nonetheless, these designations have proved useful and are widely used today. Logo of the IAU The International Astronomical Union (French: Union astronomique internationale) unites national astronomical societies from around the world. ... Elnath (or El Nath), is a star in the constellation Taurus. ... Alpha Andromedae (α And / α Andromedae) is the brightest star in the Andromeda constellation, which is located immediately northwest of Pegasus. ... Brachium is the name of the star sigma Librae. ... Libra (IPA: , Latin: , symbol , Unicode ) is a constellation of the zodiac. ... Scorpius (Latin for scorpion, symbol , Unicode ♏) is one of the constellations of the zodiac. ...

Bayer Designation Styles

There are two common ways in which Bayer designations can be written. The designation can be written out in full, as in Alpha Canis Majoris or Beta Persei, or a lowercase Greek letter can be used together with the standard 3-letter abbreviation of the constellation, as in α CMa or β Per. Earlier 4-letter abbreviations (such as α CMaj) are rarely used today. This article is about the star. ... The position of Algol Algol (β Per / Beta Persei) is a bright star in the constellation Perseus. ...

Other Bayer Designations

Although most common Bayer letters are Greek, it should also be mentioned that the system was extended, first by using lowercase Latin letters, and then by using uppercase Latin letters. Most of these are rarely used, but there are some exceptions such as h Persei (which is actually a star cluster) and P Cygni. Note that uppercase Latin Bayer designations never went beyond Q, and names such as R Leporis and W Ursae Majoris are variable star designations, not Bayer designations. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Letter case. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ... Majuscules or capital letters (in the Roman alphabet: A, B, C, ...) are one type of case in a writing system. ... NGC 869 is an open cluster located 6800 light years[2] away in the constellation of Perseus. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... P Cygni is itself slowly a star variable in the brightness in the constellation swan. ... R Leporis, sometimes called Hinds Crimson Star, is a well-known variable star, in the constellation Lepus, near the border with Eridanus. ... W Ursae Majoris (W UMa) is a variable star in the constellation Ursa Major. ... Variable stars are named using a variation on the Bayer designation format of Identifier <genitive of constellation>. In previous centuries few variable stars were known, so it seemed reasonable to use the letters of the Roman alphabet, starting from the letter R so as to avoid confusion with letter spectral...

A further complication is the use of numeric superscripts to distinguish between stars with the same Bayer letter. Usually these are double stars (mostly optical doubles rather than true binary stars), but there are some exceptions such as the chain of stars π¹, π², π³, π⁴, π⁵ and π⁶ Orionis. When two stars are so nearly in the same direction as seen from Earth that they appear to be a single star to the naked eye but may be separated by the use of telescopes, they are referred to as a double star. ... Artists impression of a binary system consisting of a black hole, with an accretion disc around it, and a main sequence star. ...

See also

• Bayer objects
• Flamsteed designation
• List of constellations
• Star catalogue
• Star designation
• Table of stars with Bayer designations
• Variable star designation