[s1919]

Firstly, I truly apologise if I have posted in the incorrect place.

So, on to my question. I've done rather a lot of research concerning the Milky Way and the systems that lie within it, so I may be accurate in my sci-fi story locations. However, I'm (kind of) stumped.

When it comes to the names of star clusters and star systems, would it be acceptable to create the names myself? It seems to me, perhaps incorrectly, that this is quite often done in fiction.

If not, is there a list (or map) which will give me the names and locations of star systems and clusters?

Thanks in advance!

[GarrickW]

I am by no means an expert, but my gut feeling tells me that if it doesn't have a pretty name with no numbers in it, you can call it whatever you want. Alpha Centauri should remain Alpha Centauri, while HD 80606 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_80606)should really get a new name. The Pleiades should retain that name, but Messier 67 could change.

Basically, if it's named after something from mythology or a letter, or if the name is a very old one, then keep the name, but if it's just a code or relatively recently named in honor of some human, you can change it. But there are probably differing opinions on this, and you are free to do as you like. Most people aren't familiar with the names of any stars to begin with, save a few like Alpha Centauri and Sirius, for instance, so it wouldn't matter if you for example changed Betelgeuse to something else.

As for lists, you can always try Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_stars). One interesting option would be to refer to the stars by their Arabic/Chinese names, if that somehow fits in your story.

[shashekar]

I'll be moderately facetious and say that it really depends on the setting. Most near-future writers (seem to) use real star names, while those who go further afield usually introduce their own on the grounds that if you lived around 51 Pegasi, would you call it 51 Pegasi or Peggy?

And Arabic star names are definitely more interesting. Betelgeuse versus Yad al-Jawzā, or Hand of the Central One.

[s1919]

Thanks for the great replies. I couldn't find that exact wikipedia article before, so that's a great help.

The setting of my novel will include many (relatively) distant star systems. So in terms of time, I guess it'll be at least a few hundred years in the future, probably over a thousand.

I like the approach of keeping the famous names as they are, but changing the ones that seem to be codes.

That said, it might be interesting to have the unknown star systems (in the novel) as numerical codes. Say for example the protagonist's ship failed in a relatively unknown system. Would it add to the atmosphere if the star system he/she was in was named HD 8060, as opposed to Epsilon Tauri? In my opinion it might create more of a feeling of alienation.

What do you think?

EDIT: I suppose I could always come up with names for star systems which haven't been named yet. There are millions of them out there, or so I've been led to believe.

[GarrickW]

That said, it might be interesting to have the unknown star systems (in the novel) as numerical codes. Say for example the protagonist's ship failed in a relatively unknown system. Would it add to the atmosphere if the star system he/she was in was named HD 8060, as opposed to Epsilon Tauri? In my opinion it might create more of a feeling of alienation.

What do you think?

That is a slightly different matter, and I think you're entirely right about that. If the system is not well known to the characters and their factions themselves, then a code would definately be more appropriate, unless the system is somehow associated with another system, more well-known system (if it is somehow in binary orbit with another system, or something). It is, after, all, all a matter of atmosphere.

Perhaps given that your characters are part of a space-faring civilization, though, a different coding system for the unknown/unimportant systems could be used, such as a cartesian coordinates and letters (76:45:11 being coordinates and the system having, say, the third brightest start in the cluster would give a code like C764511). This would make sense because while our current civilization only needs to spot the stars from Earth, and uses a correspondingly simple naming system, a space civilization would need to find them in space and get to them, as well, which would call for a more convenient nomenclature. Or one could assume that tradition might hold out, as it so often has, and that the codes would just remain codes.

Some planets might even have names derived from their original codes - so HD 8060 could evolve into "Aidi" (Aych-Dee Eighty = Aidee Eidee = Aidi), for instance.

[Jennifer P]

I suspect that it depends on how far in the future you are.

Let's take Epsilon Eridani. We call it that. Now, let's assume we find a habitable planet orbiting it, let's say it's Epsilon Eridani IV. We send a colony.

Within five generations I'm betting it'll be Silon or Ridani or some other such shortened form, because *nobody* is going to keep saying Epsilon Eridani in conversation. And, of course, if you have no need to specify, it's just 'the sun'.

Just a thought.

[Michael B]

And, of course, if you have no need to specify, it's just 'the sun'..
That is going only going to work if there is only one star. In any binary system where there are effectively two suns something like alpha and beta or major and minor are going to have to be used.

[shashekar]

That is going only going to work if there is only one star. In any binary system where there are effectively two suns something like alpha and beta or major and minor are going to have to be used.

Most writers just settle for calling it the primary.

[Jennifer P]

People might refer to 'the suns' plural, and by name (something short) if specification is needed.

(Note that planets in true binary systems are less likely to be habitable)

[s1919]

Thanks for the help everyone, I will be starting to write the first chapter of this today.