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AFlamsteed designation is a combination of a number and constellation name that uniquely identifies mostnaked eye stars in themodern constellations visible from southernEngland. They are named afterJohn Flamsteed, author of theHistoria Coelestis Britannica, the first major star catalogue compiled with the aid of a telescope.[1] Flamsteed’s own catalogue did not include what are now known as Flamsteed numbers, but its listing of stars in each constellation provided the basis for later astronomers to add them.
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Flamsteed designations forstars are similar toBayer designations, except that they use numbers instead of Greek and Roman letters. Each star is assigned a number and the Latingenitive of theconstellation it lies in (see88 modern constellations for a list of constellations and the genitive forms of their names). Flamsteed designations were assigned to 2554 stars. The numbers were originally assigned in order of increasingright ascension within each constellation, but due to the effects ofprecession they are now slightly out of order in some places.
This method of designating stars first appeared in a preliminary version ofJohn Flamsteed'sHistoria Coelestis Britannica published byEdmond Halley andIsaac Newton in 1712 without Flamsteed's approval.[2][3] The final version of Flamsteed's catalogue published in 1725[4] after his death omitted the numerical designations altogether. The numbers now in use were assigned by the French astronomer,Joseph Jérôme de Lalande and appeared in his 1783 almanac,Éphémérides des mouvemens célestes which contained a revised edition of Flamsteed's catalogue.[5] Lalande noted in his Introduction that he got the idea from the unofficial 1712 edition.[6]
Flamsteed designations gained popularity throughout the eighteenth century, and are now commonly used when no Bayer designation exists. Where a Bayer designation with a Greek letter does exist for a star, it is usually used in preference to the Flamsteed designation. (Flamsteed numbers are generally preferred to Bayer designations withRoman letters.) Examples of well-known stars that are usually referred to by their Flamsteed numbers include51 Pegasi, and61 Cygni. Flamsteed designations are often used instead of the Bayer designation if the latter contains an extra attached number; for example, "55 Cancri" is more common than "Rho1 Cancri".
There are examples of stars, such as10 Ursae Majoris inLynx, bearing Flamsteed designations for constellations in which they do not lie, just as there are for Bayer designations, because of the compromises that had to be made when the modern constellation boundaries were drawn up.
Flamsteed's catalogue covered only the stars visible fromGreat Britain, and therefore stars of the far southern constellations have no Flamsteed numbers. Some stars, such as the nearby star 82 Eridani, were named in a major southern-hemisphere catalogue calledUranometria Argentina, byBenjamin Gould; these areGould numbers, rather than Flamsteed numbers, and should be differentiated with a G, as in82 G. Eridani. Except for a handful of cases, Gould numbers are not in common use. Similarly, Flamsteed-like designations assigned by other astronomers (for example,Hevelius) are no longer in general use. (A well-known exception is theglobular cluster47 Tucanae fromBode's catalogue.)
84 stars entered in Flamsteed's catalogue are errors and proved not to exist in the sky:[7] All of them except 11 Vulpeculae were plotted on his star charts.
There are 52 constellations that primarily use Flamsteed designations. Stars are listed in the appropriate lists for the constellation, as follows:
In addition, several stars inPuppis, and a small number of stars inCentaurus andLupus, have been given Flamsteed designations.
