Ask Me Everything

Who names the

stars and galaxies?

Stars and galaxies are named according to conventions established through history. The International Astronomical Union makes surę that these conventions are followed and sets up new rules when they are needed. Founded in 1919, the organization is based in Paris, France, and counts the majority of the world’s top astronomers as its members.

Tell me morę:

naming celestial objects

■    Objects are identified by names, letters, and numbers, or a combination of these. Some have a nickname, but most are known by their official Identification.

■    The brightest stars in a consteliation are known by a letter of the Greek alphabet— alpha, beta, and so on —along with the consteliation name. Around 350 of these have an actual name, too, such as Sirius.

■    Parts of solar system objects, including mountains and craters, are given names. Even smali rocks, such as the one on Mars named after the cartoon character Yogi bear (below), need Identification.

WHATS IN A NAME?

The Sombrero galaxy

(below) gets its nickname from its passing resemblance to the Mexican hat. We see this spiral galaxy edge-on: its core is the hat’s crown, and its disk is the hat’s rim.

(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. Ali Rights Reserved.