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Real Stars and Bayer Names

Introduction

The Bayer designations were conceived by the German astronomer Johann Bayer in 1603 as a naming system for all visible stars, whether they possessed a traditional name or not. A Bayer name consists of a Greek letter (usually spelled out), followed by the name of the constellation in its Latin genitive form. An example is the star with the traditional name Rigel, which is in the constellation of Orion and received the Bayer name Beta Orionis.

Most often but not quite consistently the stars are ranked by their apparent magnitude, starting with "Alpha" for the brightest star. As a rule of thumb, most of the best visible stars in the night sky have an "Alpha" or "Beta" in their Bayer name, such as Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris). Originally Bayer assigned lowercase and then uppercase Latin letters to the dimmer stars exceeding the available 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. Nowadays it is common to denote the dimmer stars with a numerical prefix (such as 61 Cygni).

It is debatable whether in a spacefaring civilization such as the Federation the geocentric view of a starry sky would still be useful, a sky which is totally different even in a neighboring star system a few light years away. Still, in Star Trek, traditional star names as well as Bayer designations are commonplace, adding realism to the fictional universe. In Star Trek, an appended Roman numeral denotes a planet inside a star system, starting with "I" for the innermost planet.

This article lists all mentions of real stars in Star Trek. It investigates and comments on the authenticity and plausibility particularly of the used Bayer names or of designations that could be Bayer names.

Real Stars in Star Trek

Real stars, only traditional names mentioned These are the real stars whose traditional names, rather than the assigned Bayer names, were mentioned in Star Trek. Note that numerous designations of star systems were barely visible in the episodes. Especially since the time of TNG many appeared only on computer screens, or on star charts like the one in TNG: "Conspiracy".

Many of the brightest stars in Earth's sky are among the frequently mentioned stars in Trek (note the many "Alphas" and "Betas" in the Bayer name column). Most of them are supposed to be orbited by inhabitable planets. But in reality, few of those stars could support an inhabitable zone. Actually only the spectral classes F, G and K (with Sol being Class G2V) are currently considered to provide suited environmental conditions. This would exclude Antares (Class M) or Rigel (Class B) from having inhabitable planets. Realistically, we would expect to find more stars that are "insignificant" (as seen from Earth) among the central stars of the "important" (inhabited) systems of the Federation or alien civilizations.

Real stars, Bayer names (or variants) mentioned The real Bayer names always have the structure "Greek letter + constellation name (of 88 existing, genitive case)". Due to negligent writing or artistic license the pattern is not entirely consistent in Star Trek.

Trek name	Episode(s)	Real Bayer name	Etymology	Traditional name	Dist. [ly]	Annotations
Beta Aquilae	TNG: "Eye of the Beholder"	Beta Aquilae	Aquila = eagle	Alshain	45
Beta Aurigae	TOS: "Turnabout Intruder"; VOY: "Conspiracy"	Beta Aurigae	Auriga = charioteer	Menkalinan	85
Alpha Carinae	TOS: "Wolf in the Fold"	Alpha Carinae	Carina = keel	Canopus	310	Two other TOS episodes refer to the star by its traditional name.
Alpha Centauri	TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday", "Metamorphosis"; TNG: "The Naked Now", "Datalore", "Conspiracy"; DS9: "Past Tense, Part I", "In the Pale Moonlight", "Field of Fire"; ENT: "Twilight"	Alpha Centauri	Centaurus = mythological creature (half man, half horse)	Rigil Kentaurus, Rigil Kent, Toliman	4.4
Ceti Alpha	TOS: "Space Seed"; "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan"; ENT: "Twilight"	Alpha Ceti	Cetus = mythical sea monster	Menkar, Menkab	220	"Ceti Alpha" is clearly a rearrangement of Alpha Ceti, probably just for the better sound of it. It would make no sense at all as a star rank "Ceti" in the constellation of "Alpha", although TNG adds another odd permutation with a "constellation Alpha", "Tau Alpha" (see below).
Omicron Ceti	TOS: "This Side of Paradise"	Omicron Ceti		Mira	420
Tau Ceti	TOS: "Whom Gods Destroy"; "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan"; TNG: "The Naked Now", "The Last Outpost", "Conspiracy"; ENT: "Shadows of P'Jem", "In a Mirror, Darkly"	Tau Ceti		-	12
Beta Cygni	TNG set decoration	Beta Cygni	Cygnus = swan	Albireo	380
Theta Cygni	TOS: "Operation - Annihilate!"	Theta Cygni		-	61
Tau Cygna	TNG: "The Ensigns of Command"	Tau Cygni		-	69	It has been argued that "Tau Cygna" has to be a different star than the real Tau Cygni, because the Sheliak from the star of the same name (Beta Lyrae), 882 light years away, couldn't possibly claim such a far away planet. On the other hand, there can't be a star system "Cygna" grammatically, even if we assume that, as sometimes in Trek, the nominative is falsely used instead of the genitive case. Although there is a precedent in the form of the distinct real constellations Hydra and Hydrus, there is no word in Latin such as "cygna" ("female swan"?). Interestingly, although Sheliak is far away from Earth, it is in nearly the same "northwestern" direction as Tau Cygni. Yet another spelling variant is Cygnia Minor in TOS: "The Conscience of the King", albeit not in an attempt to imitate the sound of a Bayer name.
Omega Cygni	TNG: "Conspiracy"; TAS: "Mudd's Passion"	Omega-2 Cygni		Ruchba	400	Actually a binary star.
61 Cygni	TNG: "The Naked Now", "The Last Outpost", "Conspiracy"	61 Cygni		Bessel's star	11	In fandom, 61 Cygni, whose seal is depicted without further comment in the Star Fleet Technical Manual, is often regarded as the Tellarite homeworld.
Sigma Draconis	TOS: "Spock's Brain"	Sigma Draconis	Draco = dragon	Alsafi	19
Alpha Eridani	TOS: "Wolf in the Fold"	Alpha Eridani	Eridanus = Po river	Achenar	144
40 Eridani A	TNG: "The Wounded", "Night Terrors" on dedication plaques	40 Eridani A		Vulcan (the IAU should make this official)	16	40 Eridani A is the central star of the Vulcan homeworld, as once proposed by astrophysicists to Gene Roddenberry, who liked the idea. With the distance from Earth to Vulcan mentioned in ENT: "Home" being 16 light years we now have the missing canon confirmation. Alas, when a Jupiter-like gas planet was found in orbit of the star Epsilon Eridani, this planet was nicknamed in the media as "Vulcan", based on the wrong supposition that Epsilon Eridani was the central star.
Beta Geminorum	TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?", TNG: "Conspiracy"	Beta Geminorum	Gemini = twins	Pollux	34	Both "Pollux" and "Beta Geminorum" were mentioned in the TOS episode. In addition, the two were listed on the star chart in TNG: "Conspiracy", but there as two distinct star systems.
Iota Geminorum	DS9 set decoration	Iota Geminorum		Propus	326
Epsilon Hydra	DS9: "Q-Less"	Epsilon Hydrae	Hydra = mythical water snake	Ashlesha	135	A simple negligence: The rule to use the genitive case of the constellation's name is being ignored, and consistently so.
Gamma Hydra	TOS: "The Deadly Years"; "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan"; TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise"	Gamma Hydrae		Dhanab al Shuja	130
Epsilon Indi	TOS: "And the Children Shall Lead"; TNG: "The Naked Now", "The Last Outpost", "Conspiracy", "The Child"	Epsilon Indi	Indus (river)	-	12	In fandom, Epsilon Indi, whose seal is depicted without further comment in the Star Fleet Technical Manual, is often regarded as the Andorian homeworld.
Beta Lyrae	TAS: "The Slaver Weapon"	Beta Lyrae	Lyra = lyre	Sheliak	882	Very likely the Beta Lyrae system (Sheliak system) is the same as the "Shelia" system, home of the Sheliak race.
Gamma Orionis	VOY: "Relativity"	Gamma Orionis	Orion = mythical hunter	Bellatrix	240
Gamma Tauri	TNG: "The Last Outpost"	Gamma Tauri	Taurus = bull	Hyadum I, Ambrosie	154
Gamma Trianguli	TOS: "The Apple"; TNG: "Conspiracy"	Gamma Trianguli	Triangulum = triangle	-	118

As with the traditional names, the list of Bayer designations mentioned in Trek reveals a dominance of bright "Alpha" to "Gamma" stars, albeit not quite as significant. But that impression may be misleading. Most of the inhabited star systems in Trek still can't be related to a real star. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of known real stars in the interesting range of range of less than 1000 light years have either a rather unremarkable (extended) Bayer name such as 40 Eridani A, or even a plain Henry Draper Catalogue number such as HD 28185. It is obvious that, should one of these planets be known as the home of an alien civilization or host a human colony in the 23rd century, it would be given a proper name.

Wrong Bayer names These are Bayer names that may be interpreted as authentic but have more than just grammatical errors in them.

Fictional Bayer Names in Star Trek

Imitated Bayer names These are star names with the pattern "Greek letter + fictional constellation or star (group)". There may be new constellations in the 24th century, in addition to the 88 that are in use today. However, as this naming system refers to an obsolete concept of constellations visible from Earth, we wouldn't expect the sky to be fractured even more. Rather than that, the new Bayer-like names may denote single stars or local star groups, with "local" meaning that these stars are actually just a few light years apart, rather than being close together from a geocentric viewpoint. Almost none of the following names has a second part in its genitive case or something that could be interpreted as genitive, so at least this rule must have been dropped at some point.

Trek name	Episode(s)	Annotations
Beta Agni	TNG: "The Most Toys"	This name would make sense if there were a constellation Agnus (=lamb). Even the genitive case would be correct. The star system is referred to as the "Beta Agni II system" at one point, but that is a simple mix-up with the particular planet Beta Agni II.
Beta Antares	TOS: "A Piece of the Action"	This could be rated as a wrong Bayer name (see above). But since Antares is a real star, then Beta Antares could be a neighboring, much smaller one.
Gamma Argus	TNG: "Conspiracy"
Gamma Arigulon	TNG: "Reunion"
Epsilon Ashanti	TNG set decoration
Alpha Ataru	TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise", "The Wounded"
Theta Bowles	TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise"
Beta Cassius	TNG: "Haven"
Beta Coupsic	TNG: "The Icarus Factor"
Sigma Erani	TNG: "The Most Toys"	The system is mentioned twice in the episode. It may be a misspelling of "Sigma Eridani" in the script, or simply a bad permutation of the name of the real constellation.
Gamma Eridon	TNG: "Redemption, Part II"	This sounds like it was originally supposed to be "Eridani" and was reshaped in a similar fashion as "Gemini" to "Gemenon" in BSG.
Gamma Canaris	TOS: "Metamorphosis"	This name imitates the sound of "Canis (Majoris/Minoris)". But there is no Latin noun with the nominative or genitive case "Canaris". It sounds like it could refer grammatically incorrectly to the Islas Canarias or, less likely, to the German Admiral Canaris (or to Cardassian kanar?).
Epsilon Canaris	TOS: "Metamorphosis", "Star Trek Generations"
Beta Lankal	TNG: "Redemption, Part II"
Alpha Laputa	TNG set decoration
Beta Magellan	TNG: "11001001"	Star system of Bynaus. Here "Magellan" certainly doesn't refer to the Magellanic Clouds, because these are galaxies.
Beta Mahoga	TNG set decoration
Theta Mees	TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise"
Epsilon Mynos	TNG: "When The Bough Breaks"
Sigma Nesterowitz	TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise"
Epsilon Nel	TNG: "Violations"
Beta Niobe	TOS: "All Our Yesterdays"	Star system of Sarpeidon.
Alpha Onias	TNG: "Future Imperfect"
Omicron Pascal	TNG: "11001001"
Beta Penthe	"Star Trek VI"	This is the star system where the notorious planet Rura Penthe is located. As Rura Penthe appears to be the fifth planet of the system according to the "Operation Return" chart, there may be the alternative name "Beta Penthe V" for the planet.
Beta Portolan	TOS: "Operation - Annihilate!", TNG: "Conspiracy"	The name "Portolanum" (navigational map) would make a lot of sense for a possible constellation. Several existing constellations, especially in the southern hemisphere, are named for nautical instruments. The correct Bayer name would be Beta Portolani.
Delta Rana	TNG: "The Survivors"	The name "Delta Rana" is an odd mix-up, knowing there is a real star Rana with the Bayer name Delta Eridani. Unless there were a new constellation (Rana = frog) in the 24th century (in which case it would have to be "Delta Ranae"), we should assume that Rana is a local name, not belonging to a constellation (or not clearly belonging to one visible from Earth). Perhaps Delta Rana is simply the fourth planet in the Rana system (instead of "Rana IV")?
Beta Reilley	TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise"
Beta Renner	TNG: "Lonely Among Us"
Alpha Shiro	TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise"
Epsilon Silar	TNG: "Conundrum"
Beta Simmons	TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise"
Beta Stromgren	TNG: "Tin Man"
Beta Thoridar	TNG: "Redemption, Part II"
Delta Vega	TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before"	Has the star Vega (Alpha Lyrae) been "promoted" to a constellation by the 23rd century (in which case it would have to be "Delta Vegae", of course)?
	"Star Trek (2009)"	Even if we accept the improbable name of the TOS planet, it would be still impossible for Delta Vega to be as close to Vulcan as insinuated in "Star Trek (2009)". Like with Delta Rana, Delta Vega might simply indicate the fourth planet in the Vega system, but since the real Vega is not far away from Earth this doesn't really work either.

Of all Trek series TNG abounds with made-up Bayer names. Some of them were visible only on displays, but overall it seems like the authors were trying to stick to the pattern of Bayer names no matter if it made sense or not. As with the real stars, we notice a clear prevalence of "Alpha" to "Gamma" designations. Under the assumption that the Greek letter denotes a rank or another order within a local star group, it would not surprise that there are often apparently just two or three stars in such a group. If, however, the Greek letters stood for the position of a planet inside a system, then we would wind up with another problem. In the usual system (the inhabitable planets Sigma Draconis III, IV, VI showing the typical range) Class-M planets with the ordinal numbers I ("Alpha"?) or II ("Beta"?) are extremely rare.

Greek letter names The names of some star systems just consist of one or two Greek letters, plus optional prefixes or numbers. While the double Greek names are bogus, it is possible but unlikely that the rest are abbreviated Bayer names. If, for instance, Beta Cygni had become just "Beta", what about the many other stars starting with Beta? 

On a very positive note, there is not a single Bayer or Bayer-like name in the Delta Quadrant. The stars visible to the naked eye in our sky are at most some 1000 light years away, and the Bayer system includes stars with a distance of at most a few thousand light years. So it would be a stretch if Voyager passed by stars with Bayer designations in the uncharted region of the Delta Quadrant, which fortunately never happens (although there be Antarians).

Some star names were obviously designed to have a similar sound as Bayer names, but wouldn't make any sense as such. Rather than counting or ranking anything, the stars Delphi Ardu (TNG: "The Last Outpost"), Lima Sierra (TNG: "Loud As A Whisper"), Xendi Sabu (Kabu) (TNG: "The Battle", "Bloodlines") most likely just have double names.

Conclusion

Whenever Star Trek refers to real stars as possible locations of alien homeworlds or human colonies, there is the fundamental problem that these may not have inhabitable planets at all. Also, they may be just too far away for the shown or mentioned travel times to be realistic. But these problems are not in the focus of interest here.

Looking at the names of real stars and particularly the Bayer names stated in Star Trek, there are a few inconsistencies that fortunately remain singular cases. "Ceti Alpha" is definitely meant to be Alpha Ceti and was rearranged obviously for stylistic reasons. It is a matter of taste whether "Tau Cygna" could be a star in a constellation/region called "Cygna", as opposed to the real Cygnus.

It is a peculiarity of TNG that star names were formed with a Greek letter that is not followed by an actual constellation, much less by a genitive case. It is well possible that these designations replace previously unnamed or badly named small star clusters. Only few star names are complete bogus, such as "Mira Antliae", which would put the star Mira (Omicron Ceti) into the wrong constellation of Antlia, or "Tau Alpha" and similar Greek letter combinations that would only cause confusion if they were used in parallel to old and new Bayer names.

The slight majority of star systems that are not listed above are referred to by their alien names or by new names that don't fit the Bayer system, hence causing no problems.

Credits

Most of the episode information was taken from Memory Alpha.

Positions of the real stars @ Star Trek Dimension

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	Last modified: 22.09.12
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