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How Are Celestial Bodies Named?

The names of celestial bodies that are easily recognizable to the naked eye (e.g. the Sun, the Moon, some of the planets in the solar system) have been known since ancient times, so how are thousands of celestial bodies discovered by modern technology named?In ancient times, celestial bodies derived their names from the heroes of mythological legends, animals or objects, various beings, mostly of Latin, Greek and Arabic origins.The planet Mercury is named after the Greek god, the messenger of the gods, Hermes, while the planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess of beauty.Planetary names come from Greek, while most of the star names come from Arabic.The ancient Greeks created the first star maps and divided the sky into certain regions, naming them 48 constellations.We know that today's sky atlases contain 88 constellations of various shapes and sizes.

planetary system


Again today, when we look at a modern catalogue of stars or a map of the sky, we see different names because after the discovery of the telescope, many celestial bodies were discovered and how to name these celestial bodies has been a matter of debate.Modern Nomenclature Today, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has the authority to approve the naming of celestial bodies.To avoid this controversy and confusion, a list of the special names given to the stars was published in 2016.Newly discovered celestial bodies in the solar system are first given a temporary name.After the discovery has been verified, the recommendations made by the scientists who made the discovery are evaluated by the IAU and given the official name of the celestial body.In addition to the date of the discovery of the celestial body, the temporary name may include a letter indicating the type of celestial body (e.g. S for satellites, D, C, X, or P for comets, R for planetary rings) and a number indicating how many celestial bodies were discovered that year.The letter showing the type of celestial body is written before the date of discovery, and the number showing the order of discovery is written after the date.The first systematic method of naming stars was developed by Johann Bayer in 1603.In this method, the stars in the constellations are named after the name of the constellation by adding names in the Greek alphabet.The letters are given in order (alpha, beta, gamma, ...) starting from the brightest star.

For example, Cygnus is called Alpha Cygni, the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus.Today, however, high-resolution and precision telescopes are discovering many new stars and are listed in different catalogues according to their brightness and location.The most widely used catalogue of stars is Annie J.It is a Henry Draper (HD) star catalogue by Cannon from 1911 to 1915.The Henry Draper (HD) star catalogue, in which stars are sorted by right openings, contains 225 000 stars and each is given a spectral type.The most comprehensive catalogue ever created is the Hubble Space Telescope Guide Star Catalog for the Hubble Space Telescope.(HST GSC). This catalogue contains nearly 19 million celestial bodies.About 15 million of them are stars and the rest are galaxies.

how are celestial bodies named

Changing Stars The naming of changing stars was created by a completely unique system and founded by Argelander.According to Argelander's system, the first variable star discovered in a constellation was named after the letter R per constellation.S is brought to the second discovered, T is brought to the third, and this continues until Z.After Z RR, RS, ..., RZ, SR, SS, ... SZ, ..., ZZ, AA, EU, ..., AZ, BB, ..., BZ, ..., QZ goes up.In some constellations, these 334 definitions are insufficient.In this case, the naming after QZ is simply V335, V336, ... continues as a matter of time.This is the method used to name the stars that have changed, albeit a little complicated.Catalogs When we look at the naming of star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, although there are many catalogues for these celestial bodies, the most widely used by amateur astronomers in particular are the Messier Catalog and NGC (New General Catalogue).

Charles Messier was a French astronomer who lived in the 1700s.Messier, a comet hunter, has prepared a catalogue to avoid mixing other celestial bodies, namely clusters of stars, galaxies and nebulae with comets.This catalogue, known as the Messier Catalogue, consists of 110 celestial bodies.This catalogue contains a variety of brightest celestial bodies, mostly located in the northern hemisphere, such as the nebula, the cluster of stars, and the galaxy.

In fact, Charles Messier's goal was not to observe these clusters of stars, nebulae and galaxies, but to locate them not to confuse them with comets (because, when these celestial bodies, especially small telescopes, are viewed can be likened to a comet).The order of the celestial bodies in the Messier catalogue does not depend on the right opening order.Messier numbered them in order of discovery and placed an 'M' in front of the number.For example, the Andromeda Galaxy is named M31 in the Messier Catalog.Among the most famous Messier bodies are the Pleiades Open Star Cluster M45, the globular Cluster M13 in Hercules, and the Orion Nebula M42.Under suitable observational conditions, most of the celestial bodies in the Messier Catalogue can be observed with a 7×50 binoculars.With a telescope with a diameter of 70-80 mm, all of these celestial bodies can be seen.

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Among the catalogues prepared only for star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, ngc, a much more comprehensive one than the Messier catalogue, was created by Danish astronomer John Dreyer.Although the word 'New' is in its name, this catalogue was created 110 years ago.

The celestial bodies in NGC are sorted by their right aperture.The catalogue, which initially contained 7,840 celestial bodies, was later rearranged by Dreyer and renamed Index Catalogues (IC).13,226 celestial bodies catalogued with IC. The NGC catalogue is still used today with new regulations.

Amateur astronomers, in particular, use NGC after this catalog, as the Messier Catalogue contains very few celestial bodies.With a 7×50 pair of binoculars, it's possible to see the bright estuaries in NGC.A 200 mm diameter telescope can show all the celestial bodies in this catalogue.

Novas and supernovas are named with the name of the constellations and the date they were observed.

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