Some idle questions on star lists and catalogues

[Zermelo]

I answered the easy ones (I think), but I'm struggling with the others.

 

Which is the brightest (apparent mag) star that has no official IAU proper name?
I believe this to be Gamma Velorum at +1.72

Which is the dimmest star to have an IAU name?
Apparently it is Atakoraka in Canis Major, at +12.69

Which is the brightest star that does not have a Bayer (Greek alphabet) designation?
?

Which is the brightest star that does not have a Flamsteed number? (I assume this would be dimmer than the preceding one)
?

 

 

[Zermelo]

... and if you know, it would be interesting to know where you found it.

[Stu]

Is this an Astro pub quiz by any chance? 😉

[Zermelo]

25 minutes ago, Stu said:

Is this an Astro pub quiz by any chance? 😉

now there's an idea ...

[Astrobits]

According to Wikipedia Gamma Velorum is also called Regor:

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_Velorum

Nigel

[Zermelo]

8 minutes ago, Astrobits said:

According to Wikipedia Gamma Velorum is also called Regor:

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_Velorum

Nigel

 

Thanks Nigel,

I'd already seen that Wikipedia entry (SkySafari also includes it), but Regor isn't listed as an official name by the IAU.

 

 

[Zermelo]

Ah, it's one of those backwards names:

http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/regor.html

[Astrobits]

I did wonder if the IAU had that name. 

Nigel 

[saac]

8 hours ago, Astrobits said:

According to Wikipedia Gamma Velorum is also called Regor:

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_Velorum

Nigel

As bad as Lord of The Rings where the characters all seem to have at least 3 different names !

Jim 

[Martin Meredith]

On 21/06/2022 at 14:26, Zermelo said:

I answered the easy ones (I think), but I'm struggling with the others.

 

Which is the brightest (apparent mag) star that has no official IAU proper name?
I believe this to be Gamma Velorum at +1.72

Which is the dimmest star to have an IAU name?
Apparently it is Atakoraka in Canis Major, at +12.69

Which is the brightest star that does not have a Bayer (Greek alphabet) designation?
?

Which is the brightest star that does not have a Flamsteed number? (I assume this would be dimmer than the preceding one)
?

 

 

51 And (mag 3.6) has no Bayer designation that I'm aware of...

and mag 4.1 HR4522 in Centaurus has neither Bayer nor Flamsteed

(found by trawling through the XHIP bright star database, sorted by increasing magnitude)

The same source suggests gamma Vel (or at least gamma^2 Vel) is known as Suhail al Muhlif, which would make del Vel (mag 1.9) the brightest without a proper name. It might be that Suhail al Muhlif is not an IAU name (I haven't checked).

Edited July 9, 2022 by Martin Meredith

[Zermelo]

1 hour ago, Martin Meredith said:

51 And (mag 3.6) has no Bayer designation that I'm aware of...

and mag 4.1 HR4522 in Centaurus has neither Bayer nor Flamsteed

(found by trawling through the XHIP bright star database, sorted by increasing magnitude)

The same source suggests gamma Vel (or at least gamma^2 Vel) is known as Suhail al Muhlif, which would make del Vel (mag 1.9) the brightest without a proper name. It might be that Suhail al Muhlif is not an IAU name (I haven't checked).

Thanks!

No, the IAU does list Suhail for lambda velorum, but not Suhail al Muhlif for gamma.

 

[Zermelo]

16 hours ago, Martin Meredith said:

51 And (mag 3.6) has no Bayer designation that I'm aware of...

Isn't astronomy a fascinating subject?

I just looked this one up, and it turns out that it's one of those "orphaned" stars, named Upsilon Persei by Bayer and subsequently 51 Andromedae by Flamsteed. The 1930 boundary commission placed it in Andromeda, and the designation confirmed as 51 And. The IAU has even given it an official name, Nembus.

So it looks like my original question wasn't sufficiently precise: there are stars that had Bayer designations that have since been officially deprecated, and even removed to different constellations.