Star Astronomy

Every star astronomy deals with has its own name and category. This process can be almost as confusing and complex as astronomy itself.

Thanks to telescopes, we are now able to see over a million stars. However, there is many a star astronomy hasn’t even bothered to give a name. Unless it is an unusual or rare type of star astronomy officials won't even recognize it. This makes a certain amount of sense, especially to a person given the task of naming all of these stars! This is also an indication that many of the companies that offer you the chance to "name your own star" in exchange for money are in fact scams. There are certain guidelines that come with naming stars and many of the companies that offer these opportunities in exchange for money should be researched before being contacted for such an opportunity. Each star astronomy experts find must be catalogued in a very specific way.

The process of naming stars is actually rather dull. Stars are first classified by how bright they are. These brightness levels use the Greek alphabet as their scale. Alpha is the brightest, and so on. After these letters run out, we switch to lower-case letters of the ROMAN alphabet! While this creates generic, uninteresting names like Vega 3 Lyrae, it is ultimately necessary to make star names so boring. With so many stars, it would be nearly impossible to come up with creative and interesting names for each one. This unfortunately makes it a bit less wondrous and exciting to look into a telescope, see a beautiful and shining celestial body, and find out that its names is M113Vega. This is the nature of star astronomy, however.

Any star astronomy hasn't given a name is probably not visible with the naked eye. It most certainly isn't a part of any constellation, either, because these stars took priority when it came to being given names. Many of these stars, in fact, have had several different names assigned to them over the entire span of civilization. Ancient cultures from Greece to America to Egypt have been fascinated by the same stars that fascinate us today, and each culture came up with names for the stars and constellations. Many of these cultures formed entire religions based around the night sky and created not just names but epic stories about these sky creatures that live on even today. There was, understandably, a notable drop-off of this activity after telescopes were invented. In some ways it seems that technology has taken a bit of the wonder and spirit out of our fascination with the night sky.

News About Astronomy


astronomy - Google News

Hubble gives astronomers a glimpse of 'star guts' - Daily Camera
msnbc.com

Hubble gives astronomers a glimpse of 'star guts'
Daily Camera
A team of astronomers led by the University of Colorado at Boulder are charting the interactions between Supernova ...
Supernova blast wave could shape galaxy evolutionmsnbc.com
New Hubble Observations of Supernova 1987a Reveal Composition of 'Star Guts ...Media Newswire (press release)
Observing Supernova 1987A with the Refurbished Hubble Space TelescopeSecurities Industry News (blog)
Softpedia -RedOrbit -Nature.com
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UF Astronomers Find Potassium In Giant Planet's Atmosphere - Space Daily
WDTN

UF Astronomers Find Potassium In Giant Planet's Atmosphere
Space Daily
Building on this concept, University of Florida astronomers have analyzed light passing through the upper atmosphere of the giant planet HD 80606 b, ...
Atmosphere of Distant Worlds Probed With New TechniqueGant Daily
Exoplanets - will we find another Earth?OCRegister
Exeter university team discovers new elementThis Is The Westcountry

all 21 news articles »


Astronomy: Starburst galaxy comes into focus - USA Today
USA Today

Astronomy: Starburst galaxy comes into focus
USA Today
A gravitational tug-of-war between galaxies sparks stellar eruptions in a nearby "starburst" galaxy, astronomers report Wednesday. ...

and more »


ECC, U-46 astronomy teacher had 'true passion' - Chicago Daily Herald
ECC, U-46 astronomy teacher had 'true passion'
Chicago Daily Herald
"To be able to teach astronomy, that's what he loved to do." Tuttle, who died Sunday at the age of 90, taught at Elgin Community College for nearly 50 years ...

and more »


Astronomer, Albemarle County children create bilingual picture book - Staunto...
Astronomer, Albemarle County children create bilingual picture book
Staunton News Leader
Last year, University of Virginia astronomer Kelsey Johnson and a team of student volunteers established an astronomy club, called "Dark Skies, ...
A click a day helps astronomers help kidsDiscover Magazine (blog)

all 3 news articles »


Astronomy workshop for UAE kids during Ramadan - Sify
Astronomy workshop for UAE kids during Ramadan
Sify
/WAM) More than 6000 children took part in a month-long workshop on astronomy that was organised in Abu Dhabi to encourage youngsters to learn science. ...

and more »


NASA HD iPad app launches free content - SlashGear (blog)
New Zealand Herald

NASA HD iPad app launches free content
SlashGear (blog)
Using the app iPad fans can also search through updated high-resolution images from the NASA Image of the Day and the Astronomy Picture of the Day ...
New NASA HD App for iPad With Expanded Content Available FreePR Newswire (press release)

all 440 news articles »


In Ground-Based Astronomy's Final Frontier, China Aims for New Heights - Scie...
In Ground-Based Astronomy's Final Frontier, China Aims for New Heights
Science Now
At a workshop last month, astronomers unveiled plans to build two major telescopes at Dome A during the Chinese government's next 5-year plan, ...

and more »


Spitzer Telescope Spots Colorful Mix of Asteroids, May Aid Future Space Trave...
Spitzer Telescope Spots Colorful Mix of Asteroids, May Aid Future Space Travel
Newswise (press release)
"These rocks are teaching us about the places they come from," said David Trilling, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Northern Arizona ...

and more »


Telescopes eye universe in radio waves - The Free Lance-Star
The Free Lance-Star

Telescopes eye universe in radio waves
The Free Lance-Star
Radio astronomy is a newer branch of astronomy than optical astronomy. However, radio astronomy's value has been well established over the years. ...

and more »