Naming Your Own Star
The first time you meet someone new, you learn the person's name. Stargazers like Ptolemy started naming the stars in the sky thousands of years ago to help identify and keep track of them. You might be surprised to know that many of the names the stars are called today came from Middle Eastern astronomers living thousands of years ago. Unfortunately the same star was known by a different name in other places in the world. Modern astronomers started adding Greek letters to the unnamed stars in the newly discovered constellations like some of those in the Southern Hemisphere. They would name the brightest star Alpha, the next would be Beta, and so on until they ran out of stars or letters! This is not a foolproof way to know which are the brightest stars though, because the astronomers didn't want to change their names even after they found out the stars weren't quite as bright as earlier astronomers thought they were.
Some countries have tried naming newly discovered stars after their celebrities, but as you probably have noticed, there aren't any famous names listed on the star maps. Some astronomers have been honored for their discoveries by having their names used, but the newer stars just have initials that indicate the type of star they are, or numbers, or both. Now, when a star is found it is simply listed by its coordinates on the celestial sphere. If you want to find a new star, looking at catalogs that list the stars may help you. If you look closely, you may see the same star listed with its different names and numbers. Some day you might find a star that no one else has ever found before.
Which one?
I can make things disappear and reappear simply by doing what I always do.
Eclipse
Supernova
Rocket
Comet
A. Eclipse
Try This
It's All Greek to Me!
How about trying something new like learning the Greek alphabet, which is used for many things besides naming stars? You can find it in an encyclopedia or on the Internetby typing in the words “Greek alphabet.” Are there any other alphabets you would like to learn? How about the sign language alphabet?
Across the Sky
The word list is here to give you a hand, but be careful — there are two extra words!
