3.8 Star and Planet Names

This memo proposes that the show follow established astronomical naming conventions, explaining the Greek-letter-plus-constellation system and how Roman numerals and lowercase letters designate planets and moons.

What the camera sees at 50-degree field-of-view — drawing showing a planet subtending roughly 18 degrees in a 50-degree field of view, with geosynchronous orbit at about 22,300 miles on Earth indicated.

Star and Planet Names

The question of stellar nomenclature has always stuck in my mind, as far back as the original series. It never was made clear as to which star we were heading for, even with names like Ceti Alpha, which I assume is a simple reversal of the accepted standard in the astronomical community.

Now, I'm not proposing that we spend endless hours trying to get star names perfect, or that we hope to match up stars in the stories to real ones. No no no No Noooo.

What I am suggesting is that we take a little time to conform to the established standard, which is as follows.

In any constellation visible from Earth, the brightest star gets the first Greek letter (alpha), followed by the name of the constellation. Example: The brightest star in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) is alpha Cygni. the next is beta Cygni. And so on. If you've heard this all before, skip to the next memo.

When you've run out of Greek letters, you continue with numbers. Planets get Roman numerals; moons get small letters: alpha Cygni IVc is the third moon of the fourth planet.

Anyhow, that's the way that works. Now, finding a habitable planet around a promising star is another matter altogether. I have all the necessary books and astronomical references (star atlases, catalogues, etc.) to be able to tell you whether a particular star can even have planets with intelligent life, but you probably don't need to hear that. Unless you think it's necessary to be accurate.

Many stars have ancient names like Betelguese or Archenar. Made-up names like that are fine. The same scheme can apply here: Betelguese VI is valid. Altair IV is valid (though, as we all know, Altair IV blew up in 1956).

Now that we are into a new series, we have an excellent opportunity to come up with a consistant naming system, and even throw in some real astronomical science without beating people over the head with it. For us technical types, this stuff is easy (no, Bob, we don't stay up at night working these things out), and we're having fun with it.

You know where to find us if you need us.