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The Question
(Submitted May 17, 1997)
Could you give me the names of all the stars in Pegasus
(or any other constellation)?
The Answer
The stars have historically gone by different naming schemes.
The Greeks, the Arabs, the Egyptians and other cultures often
gave names to the stars, often based on a myth. When astronomers
started collecting stars into catalogues they gave them more
systematic designations. A common one still in use is a
designation in order of brightness using Greek letters and
the name of the constellation. Hence, alpha Peg is the brightest
star in Pegasus, beta Peg is the second brightest etc. For some
constellations, one runs out of Greek letters. Another system simply
numbers the stars in a constellation according to their right
ascension (a type of "longitude" used in the sky).
The best resource for the names of the stars is a book entitled
"Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning" by Richard H. Allen (Dover
Publications, 1963). It gives many of the historical names which the
Arabs, the Greeks, the Egyptians and other cultures gave to the stars.
Hence, there may not be a single name for a star. However, taking the
first entries, here are the names for some of the bright stars in Pegasus:
alpha Peg = Markab
beta Peg = Scheat
gamma Peg = Algenib
epsilon Peg = Enif
Zeta Peg = Homam
eta Peg = Matar
Theta Peg = Baham
Lambda Peg = Sad el Barr
tau Peg = Sad Al Naamah
There is a nice web page where you'll find information on the stars
in any constellation at
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/ (http://www.astro.wisc.edu/%7Edolan/constellations/)
For more detailed information about particular stars (e.g. a star's
distance, magnitude, temperature, etc.), see
http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/~garrison/oh.html (http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/%7Egarrison/oh.html)
Jim Lochner
for Ask a High-Energy Astronomer
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