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Many star names are, in origin, descriptive of the part in the constellation they are found in; thus Phecda, a corruption of Arabic فخذ الدب ( fakhdh ad-dubb, 'thigh of the bear'). Only a handful of the brightest stars have individual proper names not depending on their asterism; so Sirius ('the scorcher'), Antares ('rival of Ares ', i.e ...
The number used to identify stars in navigation publications and star charts. [Note 2] Common name The name of the star commonly used navigation publications and star charts. Bayer designation: Another name of the star which combines a Greek letter with the possessive form of its constellation's Latin name. Etymology of common name
Hipparchus star catalog. The Hipparchus star catalog is a list of at least 850 stars that also contained coordinates of stellar positions in the sky, based on celestial equatorial latitude and longitude. [1] According to British classcist Thomas Heath, Hipparchus was the first to employ such a method to map the stars, at least in the West. [2]
Lists of astronomical objects. Selection of astronomical bodies and objects: Moon Mimas and Ida, an asteroid with its own moon, Dactyl. Comet Lovejoy and Jupiter, a giant gas planet. The Sun; Sirius A with Sirius B, a white dwarf; the Crab Nebula, a remnant supernova. A black hole (artist concept); Vela Pulsar, a rotating neutron star.
It contains Ursa Major and the Hyades star cluster, among others. The Local Bubble also contains the neighboring G-Cloud, which contains the stars Alpha Centauri and Altair. In the galactic context, the Local Bubble is a small part of the Orion Arm, which contains most stars that we can see without a telescope.
The informal names often attributed to other components in a physical multiple (e.g., Fomalhaut B) are treated as unofficial (albeit described as "useful nicknames"), and not included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names. In the List, the components are clearly identified by their identifiers in the Washington Double Star Catalog.
All stars but one can be associated with an IAU (International Astronomical Union) constellation. IAU constellations are areas of the sky. Although there are only 88 IAU constellations, the sky is actually divided into 89 irregularly shaped boxes as the constellation Serpens is split into two separate sections, Serpens Caput (the snake's head) to the west and Serpens Cauda (the snake's tail ...
In practice, 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 or Flamsteed designation is often preferred. In addition to the traditional names, a small number of ...