Poll Question

Seeing how many stars I can name. or learn the name of, sounds like a good
project to me. It shouldn't be too hard to achieve thirty, for there are seven
obvious ones in Orion, and seven in Ursa Major, and five in Canis Major, indeed
four or more in most constellations.
This will be a good project for me as I undertake the Astronomical League
Binocular Messier Certificate program. They can be done at about the same time.
Clear skies,
Bill Meyers

Seeing how many stars I can name. or learn the name of, sounds like a good
project to me. It shouldn't be too hard to achieve thirty, for there are seven
obvious ones in Orion, and seven in Ursa Major, and five in Canis Major, indeed
four or more in most constellations.
This will be a good project for me as I undertake the Astronomical League
Binocular Messier Certificate program. They can be done at about the same time.
Clear skies,
Bill Meyers

Seeing how many stars I can name. or learn the name of, sounds like a good
project to me. It shouldn't be too hard to achieve thirty, for there are seven
obvious ones in Orion, and seven in Ursa Major, and five in Canis Major, indeed
four or more in most constellations.
This will be a good project for me as I undertake the Astronomical League
Binocular Messier Certificate program. They can be done at about the same time.
Clear skies,
Bill Meyers

" wrote:

If you had mag 6.5+ skies tonight. How many stars could you name
without a chart, strictly from memory?

As you get older it becomes a matter of what you can still remember
compared to what you used to know. In any case, maybe 30 on a good day
(night).


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" wrote:

If you had mag 6.5+ skies tonight. How many stars could you name
without a chart, strictly from memory?

As you get older it becomes a matter of what you can still remember
compared to what you used to know. In any case, maybe 30 on a good day
(night).


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

" wrote:

If you had mag 6.5+ skies tonight. How many stars could you name
without a chart, strictly from memory?

As you get older it becomes a matter of what you can still remember
compared to what you used to know. In any case, maybe 30 on a good day
(night).


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

" wrote:

If you had mag 6.5+ skies tonight. How many stars could you name
without a chart, strictly from memory?

As you get older it becomes a matter of what you can still remember
compared to what you used to know. In any case, maybe 30 on a good day
(night).


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
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"Michael A. Covington" wrote in message ...

What is so great about naming stars? I'm not caught up in the recent fad of
dredging up star names that were never commonly used in the past. I don't
want Asmidiske or Bogardus. Let's use Bayer and Flamsteed letters for
everything except the generally recognized navigational stars.

If you are talking about "common names", I certainly agree with you.
Frankly, the more you know about those "common names", the more
apparent it is how haphazard, accidental, and at some deep level
bogus they are. Unless forced otherwise by overwhelming common
usage, always use the Bayer designation!

I took the question to mean "name" in the broader sense, including
Bayer designation. For instance, off the top of my head, I know
six stars in Andromeda: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Mu, Nu, and "that
bright star between Alpha and Beta". I could draw those without
consulting a chart; they are the only stars I really "know".
No doubt if I looked in the sky and saw Upsilon or 51 And
missing, it would bother me, but I might not know exactly why.

Now, I know that Gamma And is Almach because it is a famous
double and people often call it that. I know that Alpha is
Alpheratz because it is a really cool name and easy to remember.
I am quite sure that Beta has a "common" name, but I don't
know what it is. I suspect the Mu and Nu don't have common
names, but I don't know or care. I know their Bayer designations
only because I refer to them frequently en route to M31. As
for that bright star between Alpha and Beta, I happen to
know it is there, but I only found out its Bayer designation
(Delta) when I looked it up just now. It is the first time
I have ever had cause to talk about it with someone else.

- Tony Flanders

"Michael A. Covington" wrote in message ...

What is so great about naming stars? I'm not caught up in the recent fad of
dredging up star names that were never commonly used in the past. I don't
want Asmidiske or Bogardus. Let's use Bayer and Flamsteed letters for
everything except the generally recognized navigational stars.

If you are talking about "common names", I certainly agree with you.
Frankly, the more you know about those "common names", the more
apparent it is how haphazard, accidental, and at some deep level
bogus they are. Unless forced otherwise by overwhelming common
usage, always use the Bayer designation!

I took the question to mean "name" in the broader sense, including
Bayer designation. For instance, off the top of my head, I know
six stars in Andromeda: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Mu, Nu, and "that
bright star between Alpha and Beta". I could draw those without
consulting a chart; they are the only stars I really "know".
No doubt if I looked in the sky and saw Upsilon or 51 And
missing, it would bother me, but I might not know exactly why.

Now, I know that Gamma And is Almach because it is a famous
double and people often call it that. I know that Alpha is
Alpheratz because it is a really cool name and easy to remember.
I am quite sure that Beta has a "common" name, but I don't
know what it is. I suspect the Mu and Nu don't have common
names, but I don't know or care. I know their Bayer designations
only because I refer to them frequently en route to M31. As
for that bright star between Alpha and Beta, I happen to
know it is there, but I only found out its Bayer designation
(Delta) when I looked it up just now. It is the first time
I have ever had cause to talk about it with someone else.

- Tony Flanders

"Michael A. Covington" wrote in message ...

What is so great about naming stars? I'm not caught up in the recent fad of
dredging up star names that were never commonly used in the past. I don't
want Asmidiske or Bogardus. Let's use Bayer and Flamsteed letters for
everything except the generally recognized navigational stars.

If you are talking about "common names", I certainly agree with you.
Frankly, the more you know about those "common names", the more
apparent it is how haphazard, accidental, and at some deep level
bogus they are. Unless forced otherwise by overwhelming common
usage, always use the Bayer designation!

I took the question to mean "name" in the broader sense, including
Bayer designation. For instance, off the top of my head, I know
six stars in Andromeda: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Mu, Nu, and "that
bright star between Alpha and Beta". I could draw those without
consulting a chart; they are the only stars I really "know".
No doubt if I looked in the sky and saw Upsilon or 51 And
missing, it would bother me, but I might not know exactly why.

Now, I know that Gamma And is Almach because it is a famous
double and people often call it that. I know that Alpha is
Alpheratz because it is a really cool name and easy to remember.
I am quite sure that Beta has a "common" name, but I don't
know what it is. I suspect the Mu and Nu don't have common
names, but I don't know or care. I know their Bayer designations
only because I refer to them frequently en route to M31. As
for that bright star between Alpha and Beta, I happen to
know it is there, but I only found out its Bayer designation
(Delta) when I looked it up just now. It is the first time
I have ever had cause to talk about it with someone else.

- Tony Flanders