Some astronomical objects have proper names ; as opposed to catalogue numbers or other systematic designations. This trivially includes the naked-eye planets as well as the Sun and Moon. A small number of stars have proper names in pre-modern astronomical tradition, but most naked-eye stars are identified by their Bayer or Flamsteed designations. In modern astronomy, there has been a tradition of giving proper names to newly discovered heavenly bodies, initiated with the discovery of the planets beyond Saturn, and later extended to minor planets and moons.
In modern astronomy, the designation of stars is done by the International Astronomical Union. For the brightest stars, nomenclature is based on the Bayer designation, first published for a total of 1,564 naked-eye stars in 1603. Only a minority of these have proper names. Many of the proper names that remain in use in modern astronomy are based on Arabic star names from medieval Islamic astronomy, which in turn was substantially based on Claudius Ptolemy’s Almagest, which contained the original Greek and Latin names for stars. For example, the Arabs translated Opisthen or Opiso, one of the original Greek names for the brightest star in Taurus, as Aldebaran, which means "the Follower" in Arabic, because the star always follows behind the Pleiades as both move across the sky. Most proper names for stars, especially the Arabic names, are descriptive of the locations of the stars within their parent constellations. For example, the star named Rigel marks the left foot of Orion the Hunter. Deneb marks the tail of Cygnus the Swan. While most Arabic star names are translations from Ptolemy's Almagest, a small number of stars have retained names from native Arabian tradition; for example, there is a star in Lepus the Hare named Nihal, meaning "The Camels Quenching Their Thirst" in Arabic, because Lepus was seen as a caravan of camels in ancient Arabia. A small number of Greek and Latin names have been preserved from antiquity, and have not been replaced by names derived from their Arabic equivalents. Examples include Sirius, Arcturus, Capella, and Spica. A small number of star names are also found in Chinese and Indian traditional astronomy, but as in Ptolemaic tradition, these traditions focussed on asterisms or groups of stars, and only a handful of stars were given individual names. Examples include Chinese Koo She and Sanskrit Chitra "the bright one". There are also contemporary proper names given to some stars, many of which refer to accomplished astronomers, deceased astronauts and English titles. For example, Gamma Velorum is named Regor, which is "Roger" spelled backwards; the name honors Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee, who died in the Apollo I tragedy. Other contemporary names include The Persian and The Head of Hydrus, Herschel's Garnet Star, Barnard's Star, etc. Some independent astronomical and astrological businesses or organizations claim to sell the opportunity to "name a star". These names are not recognized by the International Astronomical Union. The IAU is the most influential organization that names stars and other celestial objects; it is the only one recognized by mainstream astronomers, on star maps, and in science textbooks.
