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Feb 5, 2007 · Every constellation name has two forms: the nominative, for use when you're talking about the constellation itself, and the genitive, or possessive, which is used in star names. For instance, Hamal, the brightest star in the constellation Aries (nominative form), is also called Alpha Arietis (genitive form), meaning literally "the Alpha of Aries."
Below is the list of the names of the modern 88 constellations along with the stories behind them. The constellation names, abbreviations and boundaries were set by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in the 1920s. The genitive forms of constellation names are used in stellar designations (e.g. Alpha Centauri, Beta Tauri, Sigma Sagittarii).
Each IAU constellation has an official three-letter abbreviation based on the genitive form of the constellation name. As the genitive is similar to the base name, the majority of the abbreviations are just the first three letters of the constellation name: Ori for Orion/Orionis, Ara for Ara/Arae, and Com for Coma Berenices/Comae Berenices.
ConstellationAbbreviations(iau [5])Abbreviations(nasa [6])GenitiveAndromeda / ænˈdrɒmɪdə / [7]AndAndrAndromedae / ænˈdrɒmɪdiː /Antlia / ˈæntliə / [7]AntAntlApus / ˈeɪpəs / [8]ApsApusAquarius / əˈkwɛəriəs / [7]AqrAqarAquarii / əˈkwɛəriaɪ /constellation, followed by either the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name or the 3-letter abbreviation of the constellation’s name, e.g., 51 Pegasi or 51 Peg. The numbers were originally assigned in order of their increasing “right ascension” position within each constellation,
The list below shows the International Astronomical Union (IAU) conventions for constellation names. Given for each constellation is the Latin name, nominative and genitive, as well as the approved three-letter abbreviation. The abbreviation is what is generally used in AAVSO applications. AAVSO finder charts for some of these constellations ...
NominativeGenitiveAbbreviationAndromedaAndromedaeAndAntliaAntliaeAntApusApodisApsAquariusAquariiAqrNames of astronomical constellations are Latin, and the genitives of their names are used in naming objects in those constellations, as in the Bayer designation of stars. For example, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo is called Alpha Virginis , which is to say "Alpha of Virgo", as virginis is the genitive of virgō .
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Each Latin constellation name has two forms: the nominative, used when talking about the constellation itself, and the genitive, or possessive, used in star names. For instance, Hamal, the brightest star in the constellation Aries (nominative form), is also called Alpha Arietis (genitive form), meaning literally “the alpha of Aries”.
