Star designation

The International Astronomical Union ( IAU) is the internationally recognized authority in astronomy for assigning designations to stars and other celestial bodies. Many of today's known star names date back to the time before the creation of the IAU. Other names, mainly for variable stars, including novae and supernovae, are constantly added new. However, most of the countless stars have no name and are - if at all - in using the catalog numbers. The following is a brief overview of different methods of star designation ( Astronymie ) is given.

Proper names

Many of the brighter or otherwise interesting stars have proper names. Most date from the Arabic, such as Algol or Ras Algethi, but there are also some with Latin names, like Polaris or Regulus, and some wear in addition to Arabic or Latin a German name, like the Dog Star or Riders. Stars are named partly after their discoverers, such as Barnard's Star or Kapteyn's star.

Bayer / Flamsteed code

The nomenclature for the freisichtigen star follows a scheme like Alpha Centauri after the constellation of the Centaur.

Johann Bayer introduced this still widely used system of designation of the brighter stars of each constellation by Greek and occasionally also Latin letters. This is done in the article about the Bayer letters accurately.

A similar system devised John Flamsteed, by numbered the stars of the constellations. It is now mostly used in applications where no Bayer designation exists and is described in the article about Flamsteed designations.

Designation of variable stars

Variable stars, which have no Bayer designation are equipped with special designations that identify them as variables. This system is explained in the article about the naming of variable stars.

Catalog numbers

In the absence of a better method for naming a star in the general catalog numbers of the important star catalogs are used. With the myriad of stars, which are known only in the Milky Way, this is also the only practically feasible method that also ensures the unique identification and retrievability in a uniform manner. To this end, there are many different star catalogs which have been compiled partly from observational astronomers, but were partly collected in automatic measurement projects by special satellites and large observatories.

Name a star

It should also be noted that there are some companies and observatories that offer customers to call stars by their wishes. In a star naming a designated by a star catalog number is usually named with a name of your choice for money. However, these names have no scientific or official meaning and exist only in our own list or website and on a printout delivered to the customer. It is a purely symbolic gesture that basically anyone can do themselves.