The Name Game Astronomy

Gaggle of stars get official names

International Astronomical Union weighs in with formal designations for 227 stars

illustration of newly officially named stars

WHAT’S IN A NAME? Names of eight stars in the constellation Orion, plus one (Cursa) in Eridanus, are among the 227 now officially sanctioned by the International Astronomical Union.

Rogelio Bernal Andreo/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

By Christopher Crockett

- More than 2 years ago

For centuries, stargazers have known which star was Polaris and which was Sirius, but those designations were by unofficial tradition.