How do astronomers create modern star designations, such as GI 51 or Wolf 359?

Question

Also, when catalogs overlap, which designation gets precedent?

The supernova in the Large magellanic cloud was named after one Dr. Sanduleak, plus coordinates in declination and right ascension-- what catalog is *that?*

Answer 1

Star designations usually refer to a particular star catalog, although occasionally notable stars such as Barnard's Star are named outright for their discovers.

Star catalogs may be specialized or general purpose. The two stars that you mention are from special-purpose catalogs. Wolf 359 is from a list of about a thousand stars with high proper motion, compiled by Max Wolf. Gl51 is from the Gliese Nearby Star Catalog, which lists about 3000 stars within 25 parsecs of us.

General purpose catalogs include the Hubble Guide Star Catalog (GSC), a listing of about 15 million stars compiled to help aim the Hubble telescope. Another recent general purpose catalog is the Tycho Catalog, compiled from high-precision data take from the Tycho satellite. The largest catalog is from the US Naval Observatory (USNO) and lists over a billion stars. The SAO (Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory) Catalog is still often referenced. Obviously, these catalogs overlap, and a given star can have several designations from various catalogs.

Stars visible to the naked eye generally have Bayer letters and/or Flamsteed numbers and are frequently referred to by them. Even there, there is overlap, as Flamsteed numbered the stars that Bayer had already assigned Greek letters to. These stars also have SAO, Tycho, GSC, and USNO designations.

Answer 2

Star designations are created by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Some stars are named using the Bayer letters, which designates the brightest stars in each constellation by means of Greek letters. Others are designated using the Flamsteed numbers, which is a numbering of stars within the constellations (Wolf 359), but Bayer letters are generally preferred. Numbers from the star catalogue (GI 51) are used in the absence of any better means of designating a star.

Answer 3

the letters or name are from the person who discovered the object and i think the numbers are a system of counting the number found