Fifty-seven navigational stars and additionally the star Polaris are given a special status in the field of celestial navigation. Of the approximately 6,000 stars visible to the naked eye under optimal conditions, these selected stars are among the brightest and span 38 constellations of the celestial sphere from the declination of −70° to +89°. Many of the selected stars were named in antiquity by the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, and Arabs.

The star Polaris, often called either the "Pole Star" or the "North Star", is treated specially due to its proximity to the north celestial pole. When navigating in the Northern Hemisphere, a simple and quick technique can be used with Polaris to determine the observers latitude or, for larger maritime vessels can be used to calculate any gyrocompass error that may exist. The other 57 selected stars have daily positions given in nautical almanacs, aiding the navigator in efficiently performing observations on them. A second group of 115 "tabulated stars" can also be used for celestial navigation, but are often less familiar to the navigator and require extra calculations.

Although Polaris can quickly and simply give a solution for latitude in the northern hemisphere, it can not participate in giving a position fix including longitude - it is for this reason it is excluded from the list of 57 primary navigational stars, each of which can be used to produce (in conjunction with each other, known time in relation to the prime meridian and a set of sight reduction tables) an actual latitudinal and longitudinal positional fix.

For purposes of identification, the positions of navigational stars — expressed as declination and sidereal hour angle — are often rounded to the nearest degree. In addition to tables, star charts provide an aid to the navigator in identifying the navigational stars, showing constellations, relative positions, and brightness.

In practical use for sight reductions whilst at sea, tables can further assist a navigator by giving approximate altitudes (angles above the horizon) and azimuths (degrees as read from the compass) from an assumed or estimated position, usually helping to quickly determine the location and then quickly identify a particular navigational star that may be useful for a sight reduction.

Background

Under optimal conditions, approximately 6,000 stars are visible to the naked eye of an observer on Earth.^[1] Of these, 58 stars are known in the field of navigational astronomy as "selected stars", including 19 stars of the first magnitude, 38 stars of the second magnitude, and Polaris.^[1] The selection of the stars is made by His Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office and the US Naval Observatory, in the production of the yearly Nautical Almanac which the two organizations have published jointly since 1958.^[2] Criteria in the choice of stars includes their distribution across the celestial sphere, brightness, and ease of identification.^[3] Information for another 115 stars, known as "tabulated stars", is also available to the navigator.^[1] This list provides information on the name, approximate position in the celestial sphere, and apparent magnitude of the 58 selected stars in tabular form and by star charts.

These stars are typically used in two ways by the navigator. The first is to obtain a line of position by use of a sextant observation and the techniques of celestial navigation.^[4] Multiple lines of position can be intersected to obtain a position known as a celestial fix. The second typical use of the navigational stars is to determine gyrocompass error by computing the azimuth of a star and comparing it to an azimuth measured using the ship's gyrocompass.^[5] Numerous other applications also exist.

Navigators typically refer to stars using one of two naming systems for stars: common names and Bayer's designations.^[1] All of the selected stars have had a common name since 1953, and many were named in antiquity by the Arabs, Greeks, Romans, and Babylonians.^[1] Bayer's naming convention has been in use since 1603, and consists of a Greek letter combined with the possessive form of the star's constellation.^[1] Both names are shown for each star in the tables and charts below.

Each star's approximate position on the celestial sphere is given using the equatorial coordinate system. The celestial sphere is an imaginary globe of infinite size with the Earth at its center.^[6] Positions on the celestial sphere are often expressed using two coordinates: declination and sidereal hour angle, which are similar to latitude and longitude on the surface of the Earth. To define declination, the Earth's equator is projected out to the celestial sphere to construct the celestial equator, and declination is measured in degrees north or south of this celestial equator.^[6] Sidereal hour angle is a measurement between 0° and 360°, indicating how far west a body is from an arbitrarily chosen point on the celestial sphere called the First Point of Aries. Note that right ascension, as used by astronomers, is 360° minus the sidereal hour angle.

The final characteristic provided in the tables and star charts is the star's brightness, expressed in terms of apparent magnitude. Magnitude is a logarithmic scale of brightness, designed so that a body of one magnitude is approximately 2.512 times brighter than a body of the next magnitude.^{[Note 1][7]} Thus, a body of magnitude 1 is 2.512⁵ (~100) times brighter than a body of magnitude 6.^[7] The dimmest stars that can be seen through a 200-inch terrestrial telescope are of the 20th magnitude, and very bright objects like the Sun and a full Moon have magnitudes of −26.7 and −12.6 respectively.^[7]

Table

Key to the table
Column title	Description
No.	The number used to identify stars in navigation publications and star charts.[Note 2]
Common name	The name of the star commonly used navigation publications and star charts.
Bayer designation	Another name of the star which combines a Greek letter with the possessive form of its constellation's Latin name.
Etymology of common name	Etymology of the common name.[8]
SHA	Sidereal hour angle (SHA), the angular distance west of the vernal equinox.
Dec.	Declination, the angular distance north or south of the celestial equator.
App. magnitude	Apparent magnitude, an indicator of the star's brightness.

The table of navigational stars provides several types of information. In the first column is the identifying index number, followed by the common name, the Bayer designation, and the etymology of the common name. Then the star's approximate position, suitable for identification purposes, is given in terms of declination and sidereal hour angle, followed by the star's magnitude. The final column presents citations to the sources of the data, The American Practical Navigator and the star's entry at the SIMBAD database, a project of the Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center or CDS.

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=List_of_stars_for_navigation
Text je dostupný za podmienok Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 Unported; prípadne za ďalších podmienok. Podrobnejšie informácie nájdete na stránke Podmienky použitia.

---



---

www.astronomia.sk | www.biologia.sk | www.botanika.sk | www.dejiny.sk | www.economy.sk | www.elektrotechnika.sk | www.estetika.sk | www.farmakologia.sk | www.filozofia.sk | Fyzika | www.futurologia.sk | www.genetika.sk | www.chemia.sk | www.lingvistika.sk | www.politologia.sk | www.psychologia.sk | www.sexuologia.sk | www.sociologia.sk | www.veda.sk I www.zoologia.sk

---

No.[Note 2]	Common name	Bayer designation	Etymology of common name	SHA	Declination	App. magnitude	References
-100	a	a	a	-100	-100	-100	-100
1	Alpheratz	Andromedae αα Andromedae	the horse's navel	358	29N 29°	2.06	[8][9]
2	Ankaa	Phoenicis αα Phoenicis	coined name, "phoenix bird" in Arabic	354	-42S 42°	2.37	[8][10]
3	Schedar	Cassiopeiae αα Cassiopeiae	the breast (of Cassiopeia)	350	56N 56°	2.25	[8][11]
4	Diphda	Ceti ββ Ceti	the second frog (Fomalhaut was once the first)	349	-18S 18°	2.04	[8][12]
5	Achernar	Eridani αα Eridani	end of the river (Eridanus)	336	-57S 57°	0.50	[8][13]
6	Hamal	Arietis αα Arietis	full-grown lamb	328	23N 23°	2.00	[8][14]
7	Acamar	Eridani θθ Eridani	another form of Achernar	316	-40S 40°	3.2	[8][15]
8	Menkar	Ceti α α Ceti	nose (of the whale)	315	4N 04°	2.5	[8][16]
9	Mirfak	Persei α α Persei	elbow of the Pleiades	309	50N 50°	1.82	[8][17]
10	Aldebaran	Tauri αα Tauri	follower (of the Pleiades)	291	16N 16°	0.85 var[Note 3]	[8][18]
11	Rigel	Orionis β β Orionis	foot (left foot of Orion)	282	-8S 08°	0.12	[8][19]
12	Capella	Aurigae α α Aurigae	little she-goat	281	46N 46°	0.71	[8][20]
13	Bellatrix	Orionis γγ Orionis	female warrior	279	6N 06°	1.64	[8][21]
14	Elnath	Tauri ββ Tauri	one butting with the horns	279	29N 29°	1.68	[8][22]
15	Alnilam	Orionis εε Orionis	string of pearls	276	-1S 01°	1.70	[8][23]
16	Betelgeuse	Orionis αα Orionis	the hand of al-Jauzā (i.e. Orion)	271	7N 07°	0.58 var[Note 3]	[8][24]
17	Canopus	Carinae αα Carinae	city of ancient Egypt	264	-53S 53°	−0.72	[8][25]
18	Sirius	Canis Majoris αα Canis Majoris	the scorching one (popularly, the dog star)	259	-17S 17°	−1.47	[8][26]
19	Adhara	Canis Majoris εε Canis Majoris	the virgin(s)	256	-29S 29°	1.51	[8][27]
20	Procyon	Canis Minoris αα Canis Minoris	before the dog (rising before the dog star, Sirius)	245	5N 05°	0.34	[8][28]
21	Pollux	Geminorum β β Geminorum	Zeus' other twin son (Castor, α Gem, is the first twin)	244	28N 28°	1.15	[8][29]
22	Avior	Carinae εε1 Carinae	coined name	234	-59S 59°	2.4	[8][30]
23	Suhail	Velorum λλ Velorum	shortened form of Al Suhail, one Arabic name for Canopus	223	-43S 43°	2.23	[8][31]
24	Miaplacidus	Carinae ββ Carinae	quiet or still waters	222	-70S 70°	1.70	[8][32]
25	Alphard	Hydrae α α Hydrae	solitary star of the serpent	218	-9S 09°	2.00	[8][33]
26	Regulus	Leonis α α Leonis	the prince	208	12N 12°	1.35	[8][34]
27	Dubhe	Ursae Majoris αα1 Ursae Majoris	the bear's back	194	62N 62°	1.87	[8][35]
28	Denebola	Leonis β β Leonis	tail of the lion	183	15N 15°	2.14	[8][36]
29	Gienah	Corvi γ γ Corvi	right wing of the raven	176	-17S 17°	2.80	[8][37]
30	Acrux	Crucis αα1 Crucis	coined from Bayer name	174	-63S 63°	1.40	[8][38]
31	Gacrux	Crucis γγ Crucis	coined from Bayer name	172	-57S 57°	1.63	[8][39]
32	Alioth	Ursae Majoris ε ε Ursae Majoris	another form of Capella	167	56N 56°	1.76	[8][40]
33	Spica	Virginis α α Virginis	the ear of corn	159	-11S 11°	1.04	[8][41]
34	Alkaid	Ursae Majoris η η Ursae Majoris	leader of the daughters of the bier	153	49N 49°	1.85	[8][42]
35	Hadar	Centauri β β Centauri	leg of the centaur	149	-60S 60°	0.60	[8][43]
36	Menkent	Centauri θ θ Centauri	shoulder of the centaur	149	-36S 36°	2.06	[8][44]
38	Rigil Kentaurus	Centauri αα1 Centauri	foot of the centaur	140	-61S 61°	−0.01	[8][45]
37	Arcturus	Bootis αα Bootis	the bear's guard	146	19N 19°	−0.04 var[Note 3]	[8][46]
39	Zubenelgenubi	Librae α α Librae	southern claw (of the scorpion)	138	-16S 16°	3.28	[8][47]