Designations of stars (and other celestial bodies) are done by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Many of the star names in use today were inherited from the time before the IAU existed. Other names, mainly for variable stars (including novae and supernovae), are being added all the time. Most stars, however, have no name and are referred to, if at all, by means of catalogue numbers. This article briefly surveys some of the methods used to designate stars. This article is about the astronomical object. ... IAU redirects here. ... Artists conception of a white dwarf star accreting hydrogen from a larger companion A nova (pl. ... For other uses, see Supernova (disambiguation). ...

Proper names

Most bright naked eye stars have traditional names, most of which derive from Arabic, but a few from Latin. See List of traditional star names for a list of some of these names. The naked eye is a figure of speech referring to human visual perception that is unaided by enhancing equipment, such as a telescope or binoculars. ... Arabic redirects here. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... This is a list of traditional names for stars, mostly derived from Arabic and Latin. ...

There are a number of problems with these names however:

• Spellings are often not standardized (Almach or Almaach or Almak or Alamak)
• Many stars have more than one name of roughly equal popularity (Mirfak or Algenib or Alcheb; Regor or Suhail al Muhlif; Alkaid or Benetnasch; Gemma or Alphecca; Alpheratz and Sirrah)
• Because of imprecision in old star catalogs, it may not be clear exactly which star within a constellation a particular name corresponds to (eg, Alniyat, Chara).
• Some stars in entirely different constellations may have the same name: Algenib in Perseus and Algenib in Pegasus; Gienah in Cygnus and Gienah in Corvus, Alnair in Grus and Alnair in Centaurus.

In practice, the traditional names are only universally used for the very 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 is often preferred. Gamma Andromedae (γ And / γ Andromedae) is a four star system in the constellation Andromeda. ... Mirfak (also known as Algenib, and designated α Persei) is the brightest star in the constellation of Perseus. ... Gamma Velorum (γ Vel / γ Velorum) is a star system in the constellation Vela. ... Eta Ursae Majoris (η UMa / η Ursae Majoris) is a star in the constellation Ursa Major. ... Alpha Coronae Borealis (α CrB / α Coronae Borealis) is a binary star in the constellation Corona Borealis. ... Alpha Andromedae (α And / α Andromedae) is the brightest star in the Andromeda constellation, which is located immediately northwest of Pegasus. ... In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. ... The name Alniyat is associated with two stars in the constellation of Scorpius. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Mirfak (also known as Algenib, and designated α Persei) is the brightest star in the constellation of Perseus. ... Gamma Pegasi (γ Peg / γ Pegasi) is a star in the constellation of Pegasus. ... Epsilon Cygni Gienah in Cygnus, a star in the Cygnus constellation. ... Gamma Corvi Gienah in Corvus, a star in the Corvus constellation. ... Alpha Gruis (α Gru / α Gruis) is the brighest star in the constellation Grus. ... Zeta Centauri (ζ Cen / ζ Centauri) is a star in the constellation Centaurus. ... Bright stars can be bright because they produce more light, because they are closer to us, or both. ... For other uses, see Sirius (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Arcturus (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Vega (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that ALGOL object code be merged into this article or section. ... For other uses, see Polaris (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Mira (disambiguation). ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ...

In addition to the traditional names, a small number of stars that are "interesting" can have modern English names. For instance Barnard's star 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. See stars named after people. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Barnards Star is a very low-mass star in the constellation Ophiuchus which was discovered by the astronomer E. E. Barnard in 1916. ... The proper motion of a star is the motion of the position of the star in the sky (the change in direction in which we see it, as opposed to the radial velocity) after eliminating the improper motions of the stars, which affect their measured coordinates but are not real... Over the past few centuries, a small number of stars have been named for individuals. ...

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 classical names. The RAF insisted that all of the stars must have names, so new names were invented for them.^[1] Peacock is the α star in the constellation of Pavo Alpha Pavonis (α Pav / α Pavonis) is a star in the constellation Pavo. ... Epsilon Carinae (ε Car / ε Carinae) is a star in the constellation Carina. ... The HM Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), now part of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Abingdon in Oxfordshire, was established in 1832 on the site of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, where the Nautical Almanac had been published since 1767. ... RAF redirects here. ...

The book "Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning"

The book Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning by R.H.Allen (ISBN 0-486-21079-0) has had effects on star names:-

• It lists many Assyrian/Babylonian and Sumerian star names recovered by archaeology, and some of these (e.g. Sargas and Nunki) have come into general use.
• It lists many Chinese star names, and some of these (e.g. Cih alias Tsih) have come into general usage.
• R.H.Allen represented the "kh" sound by `h' with a dot above, and at least one astronomy book (a book by Patrick Moore) using R.H.Allen as a source, has misread this unfamiliar letter as `li'.

Akkadian (lišānum akkadÄ«tum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... Sumer (or Shumer, Sumeria, Shinar, native ki-en-gir) formed the southern part of Mesopotamia from the time of settlement by the Sumerians until the time of Babylonia. ... For referencing in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Citing sources. ... Sargas (Bayer designation θ Scorpii, Theta Scorpii) is a star in the constellation Scorpius. ... Nunki is the σ star in the constellation of Sagittarius Nunki (Bayer designation Sigma Sagittarii) is the second brightest star in the constellation Sagittarius. ... For other persons named Patrick Moore, see Patrick Moore (disambiguation). ...

Bayer letters

Johann Bayer introduced a system of designating the brightest stars in each constellation by means of Greek (or less often Latin) letters, a system which is still widely used. See Bayer designation for details. Johann Bayer (1572 – March 7, 1625) was a German astronomer. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ...

Flamsteed numbers

John Flamsteed's numbering of stars within constellations have also remained popular, although Bayer's Greek letters are usually preferred when there is a choice. See Flamsteed designation for details. John Flamsteed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Flamsteed designations for stars are similar to Bayer designations, except that they use numbers instead of Greek letters. ...

Hevelius numbers

Hevelius numbered stars within constellations similarly. His number system has fallen out of use, but Hevelius designations even now are occasionally mistakenly treated as Flamsteed designations. Johannes Hevelius Johannes Hevelius or Johann Hewelke or Johannes Hewel (German) or Jan Heweliusz (Polish) (January 28, 1611-January 28, 1687) was an astronomer; called the founder of lunar topography. ...

Variable designations

Variable stars which do not have Bayer designations are given special designations which mark them out as variable stars. See variable star designation for details. 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...

Catalogue numbers

In the absence of any better means of designating a star, catalogue numbers are generally used. A great many different star catalogues are used for this purpose, see star catalogues. A star catalogue, or star catalog, is an astronomical catalog that lists stars. ...

Unofficial names

There are companies that purport to name obscure stars after paying customers, but these names are recognized by nobody except the registering company and the customer. In particular, these names are neither used nor recognised by astronomers. There is nothing to stop two companies from claiming the same star, or even one company from registering the same star to two customers. Many astronomers view these organizations as frauds preying on people ignorant of star naming procedure. Galileo is often referred to as the Father of Modern Astronomy. ...

Eponyms

A very few stars are named for individuals; this is rare and many cases were unofficial names that became official. Over the past few centuries, a small number of stars have been named for individuals. ...

External links

• List of popular star names
• Buying a Star FAQ
• the IAU's discussion
• The Naming of Stars from the National Maritime Museum
• The Straight Dope: Can you pay $35 to get a star named after you?
• Naming Stars

Notes

1. ^ Sadler, D.H.: A Personal History of H.M. Nautical Almanac Office, page 46. Edited and privately published by Wilkins, G.A., 1993