How Astronomical Objects Are Named Jeanne E. Bishop Westlake Schools Planetarium 24525 Hilliard Road Westlake, Ohio 44145 U.S.A. bishop{at}@wlake.org Sept 2004 Introduction “What, I wonder, would the science of astrono- use of the sky by the societies of At the 1988 meeting in Rich- my be like, if we could not properly discrimi- the people that developed them. However, these different systems mond, Virginia, the Inter- nate among the stars themselves. Without the national Planetarium Society are beyond the scope of this arti- (IPS) released a statement ex- use of unique names, all observatories, both cle; the discussion will be limited plaining and opposing the sell- ancient and modern, would be useful to to the system of constellations ing of star names by private nobody, and the books describing these things used currently by astronomers in business groups. In this state- all countries. As we shall see, the ment I reviewed the official would seem to us to be more like enigmas history of the official constella- methods by which stars are rather than descriptions and explanations.” tions includes contributions and named. Later, at the IPS Exec- – Johannes Hevelius, 1611-1687 innovations of people from utive Council Meeting in 2000, many cultures and countries. there was a positive response to The IAU recognizes 88 constel- the suggestion that as continuing Chair of with the name registered in an ‘important’ lations, all originating in ancient times or the Committee for Astronomical Accuracy, I book “… is a scam. Astronomers don’t recog- during the European age of exploration and prepare a reference article that describes not nize those names. The Library of Congress mapping. Possibly, notes Owen Gingerich, only how stars are named, but how a wide doesn’t recognize those names. They’re mis- the oldest constellation is Ursa Major, its use variety of sky objects get their names. “How leading the public. I’ve seen a few certificates (in the Northern Hemisphere) circling the Astronomical Objects Are Named” is the giving the positions of the star — I’ve world from an origin somewhere in Eurasia. result. I hope that this very long article may checked and there wasn’t a star there. Either The idea of a Bear for the Big Dipper, some- serve as a helpful “one-stop” source of they’re making up star positions, or they’re times with surrounding stars, was used by answers for most of your astronomy nomen- not interpreting the charts correctly.” (D i s - natives of North America, who in turn clature questions. cover, February, 2000, p. 72) migrated from Asia. When Europeans met The professional astronomy group that Planetarian Richard Pirko remarked on the Native Americans, members of both cul- makes official decisions about names of all Dome-L, “I never attempt to make the buyer tures were surprised to find that the other astronomical objects is the International look like a fool. My boss, however, likes to group used the name of “bear” for these stars. Astronomical Union (IAU). Sky objects with tell his classes that they can achieve the same Owen Gingerich suggests that the Bear con- names established by long usage usually are effect [as purchasing a star] by walking into stellation dates back to the Ice Ages. recognized by this group. Major committees the back yard, pointing to a star, and saying, Archaeoastronomer E. C. Krupp recently of the IAU are responsible for approving sys - ‘I hereby name you Aunt Betty.’ You then reviewed and analyzed a large body of litera- t e m s that name sky objects as well as for complete the ceremony by removing from ture on the early development of the con- approving new proper names for some indi- your wallet $45 and setting it on fire.” stellations in use today. I highly recommend vidual objects. There are specific IAU direc- This article will focus on the systems used Krupp’s article for a balanced look at differ- tions for naming different categories of by astronomers to give accepted names to ent origin ideas including the “zone of avoid- objects. celestial objects and object features as well as ance” theory (pinpointing latitude where Like the IPS, the IAU has declared its com- the historical development of names for cat- unseen stars would have centered on the plete dissociation with the commercial prac- egories of objects, individual objects, and south celestial pole at certain times in the tice of “selling” fictitious star names, wishing object features that now are in use. I have precessional cycle) and Alexander Gursh- to make it unequivocally clear that any hint added anecdotal information to provide tein’s ideas on the development of Zodiac of association with these companies, which additional background about the naming constellations in sequential “quartet” groups take in millions of dollars annually and have processes and to make the topic more inter- beginning in about 5600 BC. offices in many countries, is “patently false esting. Celestial nomenclature is a broad sub- There are convincing records and argu- and unfounded.” Similarly, governments ject with lots of opportunities to travel on ments that Mesopotamia (areas of present- have noted that one cannot sell land on interesting side roads of information, so it day Iran, Iraq, Northeastern Turkey, and other planets or their satellites. will take some time and distance (pages) to Syria) was the site of origin for many of our Strongly making this point, Brian Mars- explore. constellations. Possibly the Lion (Leo), the den, Director of the Minor Planet Center and Bull (Taurus with the Pleiades), and the Scor- The Constellations a former Associate Director of the Planetary pion (Scorpius), all Zodiac figures, were Throughout the world we find different Sciences division at the Harvard-Smith- among the earliest, appearing in the fourth names for constellations, begun long ago, all sonian Center for Astrophysics, declares that millennium BC. interesting and helpful to understanding the the business of having a star named for you In ancient Greece, about 700 BC, the epic 6 Planetarian September 2004 poems of I l i a d and O d y s s e y , attributed to to the Sumerian constellation core. in Cologne by Caspar Vopel (1511-1561) fif- Homer, and Works and Days, attributed to How the majority of Phaenomena constel- teen years before, developed in turn from Hesiod, independently mention the Great lations made their way to Greece also is much older ideas. Tycho promoted both Bear, Orion and the Pleiades. The asterism of uncertain. The Minoans, a maritime group constellations, Antinous and Coma Bere- the Pleiades was put forth as a separate con- who moved between the Middle East and nices, but Antinous did not last. stellation. the Mediterranean, may have learned the Between 1596 and 1603, twelve more con- The astronomer Eudoxus (c . 390 BC-340 constellations directly from Mesopotamians, stellations were added by two Dutch naviga- BC) was the first Western writer to discuss used them for their navigation, and passed tors who observed in the Southern Hemi- many of the now-recognized constellations them along to Egypt and Greece. Alterna- sphere. Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser (?-1595) and of the Northern Hemisphere. We understand tively, Krupp thinks that it is just as plausible Frederick de Houtman (c. 1571-1627) were in- that his presentation was given in two sepa- for Anatolia, especially Ionia on the western structed by Dutch cartographer Petrus rate books, now lost, handbooks for use with shore of the Mediterranean and a place near Plancius (1552-1622) to make and record a celestial globe showing these constella- Eudoxus’ home city of Cyzicus, to have observations while they were on southern tions. P h a e n o m e n a , a poem that Aratus of served as main movers. Ionia was a wealthy, voyages. In an unexpected venue, a dictio- Soli wrote in about 275 BC, shows us what intellectual region, possessing excellent trade nary of Malay terms he published in 1603, Eudoxus must have described. Eudoxus and connections. The Minoans still may have Keyser added an appendix of 303 stars and 12 Aratus identified 47 of our constellations, had a part in constellation distribution, new constellations visible from the Southern including “the Water” (now part of Aquar- adopting, adapting and transmitting them Hemisphere: Chamaeleon, Dorado, Grus, ius). Other Greek works listing P h a e n o m e n a after they finally reached Crete. Hydrus, Indus, Musca, Pavo, Phoenix, constellations were summarized by Eratos- Ptolemy’s book was the most crucial Triangulum, Tucana, and Volans. Plancius thenes (276 BC-194 BC) of Cyrene, famous for instrument for transmitting the Mesopo- invented three constellations of his own finding the size of the Earth, in the third cen- tamian constellations to later generations. which are used today: Columba (from stars tury BC. The set of figures described by Ptolemy in Ptolemy had listed as surrounding Canis Noting the times of these Greek writings, Syntaxis in the second century AD is the Major), Monoceros, and Camelopardalis. Krupp observes, “We encounter only sparse foundation of our constellation system. We Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687) of Poland, evidence for the constellations in the eighth know Ptolemy’s work by the title A l m a g e s t who modeled his astronomy work on that of century BC, but roughly 600 years later they (“the great book”). Syntaxis was translated Tycho Brahe, slipped seven more constella- parade in full regalia and present themselves into Arabic by Thabit ibn Qurra in the ninth tions among the growing number, closing as a complete set.” (Archaeoastronomy, V o l . century. The Ptolemaic constellations were the a m o r p h o t o i regions.