Editing Flamsteed designation

{{Short description|Star identification system}}
[[File:Atlas Coelestis-1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Northern hemisphere from [[John Flamsteed|Flamsteed's]] [[Atlas Coelestis]]]]
A '''Flamsteed designation''' is a combination of a number and constellation name that uniquely identifies most [[naked eye]] stars in the [[88 modern constellations|modern constellation]]s visible from southern [[England]].  They are named for [[John Flamsteed]] who first used them while compiling his ''[[Historia Coelestis Britannica]]''.  (Flamsteed used a telescope,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.royalobservatorygreenwich.org/articles.php?article=937|title = Telescope: Flamsteed's 7-foot Equatorial Sextant (1676)}}</ref> and the catalog also includes some stars which are relatively bright but not necessarily visible with the naked eye.)

==Description==
{{See also|IAU designated constellations}}
[[File:Atlas Coelestis-14.jpg|thumb|left|[[Orion (constellation)|Orion]] and [[Taurus (constellation)|Taurus]] from Atlas Coelestis]]Flamsteed designations for [[star]]s are similar to [[Bayer designation]]s, except that they use numbers instead of Greek and Roman letters. Each star is assigned a number and the Latin [[genitive]] of the [[constellation]] it lies in (see [[88 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 increasing [[right ascension]] within each constellation, but due to the effects of [[precession]] they are now slightly out of order in some places.

This method of designating stars first appeared in a preliminary version of [[John Flamsteed]]'s ''[[Historia Coelestis Britannica]]'' published by [[Edmond Halley]] and [[Isaac Newton]] in 1712 without Flamsteed's approval.<ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://www.iau.org/public_press/themes/naming/ | title = Naming Astronomical Objects
 | publisher = [[International Astronomical Union]] (IAU)
 | access-date = 2015-09-10 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://spider.seds.org/spider/Misc/naming.html | title = Naming Stars
 | publisher = [[Students for the Exploration and Development of Space]] (SEDS)
 | access-date = 2009-01-30 }}</ref> The final version of Flamsteed's catalogue published in 1725<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Flamsteed |title=Historia Coelestis Britannica |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_8q9FAAAAcAAJ|publisher=H. Meere |date=1725}}</ref> after his death omitted the numerical designations altogether. The numbers now in use were assigned by the French astronomer, [[Jérôme Lalande|Joseph Jérôme de Lalande]] and appeared in his 1783 almanac, ''Éphémérides des mouvemens célestes'' which contained a revised edition of Flamsteed's catalogue.<ref>{{cite book |first=Joseph Jérôme |last=de Lalande |title= Éphémérides des mouvemens celestas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZAAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PR133|publisher=Hérissant |date=1783 |page=cxxxiii}}</ref> Lalande noted in his Introduction that he got the idea from the unofficial 1712 edition.<ref>{{cite book |first=Joseph Jérôme |last=de Lalande |title= Éphémérides des mouvemens celestas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZAAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PR133|publisher=Hérissant |date=1783 |page=xxv}}</ref>

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 with ''Roman'' letters.) Examples of well-known stars that are usually referred to by their Flamsteed numbers include [[51 Pegasi]], and [[61 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 "Rho<sup>1</sup> Cancri".

There are examples of stars, such as [[10 Ursae Majoris]] in [[Lynx (constellation)|Lynx]], 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 from [[Great 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 catalog called ''Uranometria Argentina'', by [[Benjamin Gould]]; these are [[Gould designation|Gould numbers]], rather than Flamsteed numbers, and should be differentiated with a G, as in [[82 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 the [[globular cluster]] [[47 Tucanae]] from [[Johann Elert Bode|Bode]]'s catalog.)

84 stars entered in Flamsteed's catalog are errors and proved not to exist in the sky:<ref name=wagman/> All of them except 11 Vulpeculae were plotted on his star charts.
* Flamsteed observed [[Uranus]] in 1690 but did not recognize it as a [[planet]] and entered it into his catalog as a star called "34 Tauri".
* [[11 Vulpeculae]] was a nova, now known as [[CK Vulpeculae]].
* Many of them were caused by arithmetic errors made by Flamsteed.

==List of constellations using Flamsteed star designations==
There are 52 constellations that primarily use Flamsteed designations. Stars are listed in the appropriate lists for the constellation, as follows:

{{columns-list|colwidth=10em|
*[[List of stars in Andromeda|Andromeda]]
*[[List of stars in Aquarius|Aquarius]]
*[[List of stars in Aquila|Aquila]]
*[[List of stars in Aries|Aries]]
*[[List of stars in Auriga|Auriga]]
*[[List of stars in Boötes|Boötes]]
*[[List of stars in Camelopardalis|Camelopardalis]]
*[[List of stars in Cancer|Cancer]]
*[[List of stars in Canes Venatici|Canes Venatici]]
*[[List of stars in Canis Major|Canis Major]]
*[[List of stars in Canis Minor|Canis Minor]]
*[[List of stars in Capricornus|Capricornus]]
*[[List of stars in Cassiopeia|Cassiopeia]]
*[[List of stars in Cepheus|Cepheus]]
*[[List of stars in Cetus|Cetus]]
*[[List of stars in Coma Berenices|Coma Berenices]]
*[[List of stars in Corona Borealis|Corona Borealis]]
*[[List of stars in Corvus|Corvus]]
*[[List of stars in Crater|Crater]]
*[[List of stars in Cygnus|Cygnus]]
*[[List of stars in Delphinus|Delphinus]]
*[[List of stars in Draco|Draco]]
*[[List of stars in Equuleus|Equuleus]]
*[[List of stars in Eridanus|Eridanus]]
*[[List of stars in Gemini|Gemini]]
*[[List of stars in Hercules|Hercules]]
*[[List of stars in Hydra|Hydra]]
*[[List of stars in Lacerta|Lacerta]]
*[[List of stars in Leo|Leo]]
*[[List of stars in Leo Minor|Leo Minor]]
*[[List of stars in Lepus|Lepus]]
*[[List of stars in Libra|Libra]]
*[[List of stars in Lynx|Lynx]]
*[[List of stars in Lyra|Lyra]]
*[[List of stars in Monoceros|Monoceros]]
*[[List of stars in Ophiuchus|Ophiuchus]]
*[[List of stars in Orion|Orion]]
*[[List of stars in Pegasus|Pegasus]]
*[[List of stars in Perseus|Perseus]]
*[[List of stars in Pisces|Pisces]]
*[[List of stars in Piscis Austrinus|Piscis Austrinus]]
*[[List of stars in Sagitta|Sagitta]]
*[[List of stars in Sagittarius|Sagittarius]]
*[[List of stars in Scorpius|Scorpius]]
*[[List of stars in Serpens|Serpens]]
*[[List of stars in Sextans|Sextans]]
*[[List of stars in Taurus|Taurus]]
*[[List of stars in Triangulum|Triangulum]]
*[[List of stars in Ursa Major|Ursa Major]]
*[[List of stars in Ursa Minor|Ursa Minor]]
*[[List of stars in Virgo|Virgo]]
*[[List of stars in Vulpecula|Vulpecula]]
}}

In addition, several stars in [[List of stars in Puppis|Puppis]], and a small number of stars in [[List of stars in Centaurus|Centaurus]] and [[List of stars in Lupus|Lupus]], have been given Flamsteed designations.

==See also==
* [[Stellar designations and names]]
* [[Table of stars with Flamsteed designations]]

==References==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name=wagman>{{cite book
  | last = Wagman
  | first = Morton
  | year = 2003
  | title = Lost Stars: Lost, Missing and Troublesome Stars from the Catalogues of Johannes Bayer, Nicholas Louis de Lacaille, John Flamsteed, and Sundry Others
  | publisher = The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company
  | location = Blacksburg, Virginia
  | isbn = 978-0-939923-78-6
  }}</ref>

}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/flamsteed.html Flamsteed numbers – where they really came from] Ian Ridpath's Star Tales

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flamsteed Designation}}
[[Category:Astronomical catalogues]]
[[Category:Flamsteed objects| ]]