Newsgroup: it.scienza.astronomia
Titolo: Dare il nome alle stelle

Salve a tutti
Scusate l'intrusione, spero di non essere OT.
Desideravo avere un chiarimento, se possibile, sull'usanza di regalare una
stella. Su internet ci sono diverse agenzie che offrono servizi simili tra
cui anche quello di dare il nome ad una stella ovviamente con un certo
costo.
Quello che mi chiedevo e' se esiste un registro ufficiale dove vi siano
riportati i nomi delle stelle. L'impressione che ho avuto e quella di una
specie d'inganno ai danni di noi poveri sognatori che vogliamo regalare una
stella alla nostra bella.
Esistono registri ufficiali? Chi da il nome alle stelle?
Scusate nuovamente spero di non avervi fatto perdere troppo tempo.
Grazie.
Ivan

 Esistono registri ufficiali? Chi da il nome alle stelle?
I nomi, ovvero i numeri di catalogo, sono attribuiti da chi ha fatto il
catalogo. Ad esempio il catalogo SAO è stato redatto dallo Smithsonian
Astrophisical Observatory, e  ogni stella di questo catalogo ha un nome di
questo tipo: SAOnnnn, dove al posto di n  c'è un numero progressivo.Esistono
anche altri metodi per assegnare un *nome* a una stella, come indicarla con le
coordinate che servono per individuarla, ed altri ancora...
Da notare che molte stelle hanno molteplici *nomi* a seconda del catalogo che
si consulta.. Es. Aldebaran, viene chiamata anche: alfa Tauri, 87 tauri,
HR1457.
Nulla impedisce a me di chiamare Aldebaran, Patty ovvero il nome della mia
ragazza! :-)
ciao
marco
icq 13512144

specie d'inganno 
 esatto.non farlo.Nessuno è autorizzato a dare un nome alle stelle.Se
cerchi le FAQ di sci.astro. esiste un capitoletto su questo.
L'organo preposto a questo non ricordo come si chiama ma è comunque un
ente americano a cui fanno capo tutti gli osservatoir ecc ecc.
Stefano Padovan Photographer
ste...@padovan.net
stefano...@tin.it
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STEFANO PADOVAN PHOTOGRAPHER
http://www.padovan.net
photography portfolio online
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VARGAS HOME PAGE
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/lab/7444
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http://freeweb.org/freeweb/vargas
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sky atlases and astronomy archives                                      


Official names for celestial objects are assigned by the International
Astronomical Union.  Procedures vary depending on the type of object.
Often there is a system for assigning temporary designations as soon
as
possible after an object is discovered and later on a permanent name.
See E.05 of this FAQ.
Some commercial companies purport to allow you to name a star.
Typically they send you a nice certificate and a piece of a star atlas
showing "your" star.  The following statement on star naming was
approved by the IPS Council June 30, 1988.
    The International Planetarium Society's Guidelines on Star Naming
    SELLING STAR NAMES
    The star names recognized and used by scientists are those that
have
    been published by astronomers at credible scientific institutions.
The
    International Astronomical Union, the worldwide federation of
    astronomical societies, accepts and uses _only_ those names.  Such
names
    are never sold.
    Private groups in business to make money may claim to "name a star
for
    you or a loved one, providing the perfect gift for many
occasions."  One
    organization offers to register that name in a Geneva,
Switzerland,
    vault and to place that name in their beautiful copyrighted
catalog.
    However official-sounding this procedure may seem, the name and
the
    catalog are not recognized or used by any scientific institution.
    Further, the official-looking star charts that commonly accompany
a
    "purchased star name" are the Becvar charts excerpted from the
_Atlas
    Coeli 1950.0_.  [Other star atlases such as _Atlas Borealis_ may
be used
    instead.]  While these are legitimate charts, published by Sky
    Publishing Corporation, they have been modified by the private
"star
    name" business unofficially.  Unfortunately, there are instances
of news
    media describing the purchase of a star name, apparently not
realizing
    that they are promoting a money-making business only and not
science.
    Advertisements and media promotion both seem to increase during
holiday
    periods.
    Planetariums and museums occasionally "sell" stars as a way to
raise
    funds for their non-profit institutions.  Normally these
institutions
    are extremely careful to explain that they are not officially
naming
    stars and that the "naming" done for a donation is for amusement
only.
    OFFICIAL STAR-NAMING PROCEDURES
    Bright stars from first to third magnitude have proper names that
have
    been in use for hundreds of years.  Most of these names are
Arabic.
    Examples are Betelgeuse, the bright orange star in the
constellation
    Orion, and Dubhe, the second-magnitude star at the edge of the Big
    Dipper's cup (Ursa Major).  A few proper star names are not
Arabic.  One
    is Polaris, the second-magnitude star at the end of the handle of
the
    Little Dipper (Ursa Minor).  Polaris also carries the popular
name, the
    North Star.
    A second system for naming bright stars was introduced in 1603 by
    J. Bayer of Bavaria.  In his constellation atlas, Bayer assigned
    successive letters of the Greek alphabet to the brighter stars of
each
    constellation.  Each Bayer designation is the Greek letter with
the
    genitive form of the constellation name.  Thus Polaris is Alpha
Ursae
    Minoris.  Occasionally Bayer switched brightness order for serial
order
    in assigning Greek letters.  An example of this is Dubhe as Alpha
Ursae
    Majoris, with each star along the Big Dipper from the cup to
handle
    having the next Greek letter.
    Faint stars are designated in different ways in catalogs prepared
and
    used by astronomers.  One is the _Bonner Durchmusterung_, compiled
at
    Bonn Observatory starting in 1837.  A third of a million stars to
a
    faintness of ninth magnitude are listed by "BD numbers."  The
    _Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) Catalog_, _The Yale
Star
    Catalog_, and _The Henry Draper Catalog_ published by Harvard
College
    Observatory all are widely used by astronomers.  The Supernova of
1987
    (Supernova 1987A), one of the major astronomical events of this
century,
    was identified with the star named SK -69 202 in the very
specialized
    catalog, the _Deep Objective Prism Survey of the Large Magellanic
    Cloud_, published by the Warner and Swasey Observatory.
    These procedures and catalogs accepted by the International
Astronomical
    Union are the only means by which stars receive long-lasting
names.  Be
    aware that no one can buy immortality for anyone in the form of a
star
    name.
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