THE GREEK ALPHABET
The Greek alphabet was used by Johannes Bayer around the year 1600
to name the brighter stars. The basic rule was to name
them in order of brightness, but the rule is more often violated
than not, the designations commonly also depending on the
positionings of the stars within their constellations and other
factors known only to Bayer. To the Greek letter is appended the
Latin possessive form of the constellation
name, Vega, the Alpha star of Lyra, becoming Alpha Lyrae,
and so on.
| 1. Alpha |
2. Beta |
3. Gamma |
4. Delta |
5. Epsilon |
6. Zeta |
| 7. Eta |
8. Theta |
9. Iota |
10. Kappa |
11. Lambda |
12. Mu |
| 13. Nu |
14. Xi |
15. Omicron |
16. Pi |
17. Rho |
18. Sigma |
| 19. Tau |
20. Upsilon |
21. Phi |
22. Chi |
23. Psi |
24. Omega |
Table from The Ever-
Changing Sky, J. B. Kaler, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1996.
