Should closest stars have names like Proxima Leonis?

[DHunter]

Most of the closest stars to our solar system don't have a common constellation-based names. I suggest that the closest in each constellation have an altername name starting with Proxima, followed by the constellation name, as is already done for Proxima Centauri. For example, Wolf 359 would be Proxima Leonis, or Ross 154 would be Proxima Sagittarii. This would make any discussion of the closest stars much easier to imagine. You can see more of my suggestions at www.ClosestStars.com, along with some 3-D maps of the closest stars. Any comments?

[ian]

Good idea. I don't think there's anything wrong with stars having alternative names . But why do we have to know if a star is closest in a constellation?

[DHunter]

Thanks for the response - It would be very helpful to have clearer names for the closest stars whenever they are being discussed. I think it is interesting that most people have a mental map of the Earth and of the solar system, but almost no one has a mental map of the closest stars in our stellar neighborhood. When you do map them, as I did on www.closeststars.com, it just feels wrong to use cryptic catalog names like Lalande 21185 or Luyten 726-8. Giving them constellation-based proxima names makes it much easier to visualize their location. It's not so important knowing that a star is the closest in a particular constellation, but just knowing that it is one of the closest to us, and then where it happens to be. This will become more of an issue in the future, when we eventually send probes to stars, and these stars will of course be the first we can visit.

[admin]

I remember wikipedia guys were quite against it. But I personally don't see anything wrong with it. Like Proxima Centauri was named when discovered in 1915.
And you're right, one day those stars will become target for probes and easy names rather than 5-digit numbers would be more practical.
I'm ok if you put the names on sky-map, just add also link to your site for each star like "Proxima Virginis on ClosestStars.com"

[ian]

When visits to the closest stars hit the news headlines, the newsreaders may prefer to use 'easy names' to appeal to the general public, although astronomers may still want to use the '5-digit numbers'

[llstwe22]

I don't think there's anything wrong with stars having alternative names

[Bahnyen]

I personally think that the stars should have unique Latin name. As for the Proxima Leonis is not special, in my feeling.

[jrnation]

I think giving stars an alternate name is a good idea.

[princegupta]

please tell me the name of closest star.