The Bayer System

Here is a little background information on star names.

The names of stars are generally difficult to remember and/or pronounce. To make things easier, a scientist named Bayer started using the Greek alphabet to name the stars according to their brightness and position in the constellation.

The brightest star in a constellation is Alpha. Next is Beta, etc.

The Greek letter is followed by the possessive form of the Latin constellation name.

My star is an easy example. Vega of the Lyre: Vega is the brightest star in Lyra, so the star name is Alpha Lyrae.

Don't worry about any of this. It just means that eighty people could have an "Alpha" star without ever using the same star twice.

If you don't get this, or don't feel like researching a star, don't fret. I'll take care of all the official names. Just tell me you want "insert Greek letter here" from "insert constellation here". Simple!

I'm using "real" names whenever possible (Vega instead of Alpha Lyrae), but I haven't done nearly enough research to have that ready yet.


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