List of stars for navigation


Fifty-eight selected navigational stars 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, the 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 the "North Star", is treated specially due to its proximity to the north celestial pole. When navigating in the Northern Hemisphere, special techniques can be used with Polaris to determine latitude or gyrocompass error. 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.
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.

Background

Under optimal conditions, approximately 6,000 stars are visible to the naked eye of an observer on Earth. 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. The selection of the stars is made by Her 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. Criteria in the choice of stars includes their distribution across the celestial sphere, brightness, and ease of identification. Information for another 115 stars, known as "tabulated stars", is also available to the navigator. 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. 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. Numerous other applications also exist.
Navigators typically refer to stars using one of two naming systems for stars: common names and Bayer's designations. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Thus, a body of magnitude 1 is 2.5125, or 100 times brighter than a body of magnitude 6. 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.

Table

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.
No.Common
name		Bayer
designation		Etymology of common nameSHADeclinationApp.
magnitude		References
-100aaa-100-100-100-100
1 AlpheratzAndromedae αα Andromedaethe horse's navel35829N 29°2.06
2 AnkaaPhoenicis αα Phoeniciscoined name, "phoenix bird" in Arabic354-42S 42°2.37
3 SchedarCassiopeiae αα Cassiopeiaethe breast 35056N 56°2.25
4 DiphdaCeti ββ Cetithe second frog 349-18S 18°2.04
5 AchernarEridani αα Eridaniend of the river 336-57S 57°0.50
6 HamalArietis αα Arietisfull-grown lamb32823N 23°2.00
7 AcamarEridani θθ Eridanianother form of Achernar316-40S 40°3.2
8 MenkarCeti α α Cetinose 3154N 04°2.5
9 MirfakPersei α α Perseielbow of the Pleiades30950N 50°1.82
10 AldebaranTauri αα Taurifollower 29116N 16°0.85 var
11 RigelOrionis β β Orionisfoot 282-8S 08°0.12
12 CapellaAurigae α α Aurigaelittle she-goat28146N 46°0.71
13 BellatrixOrionis γγ Orionisfemale warrior2796N 06°1.64
14 ElnathTauri ββ Taurione butting with the horns27929N 29°1.68
15 AlnilamOrionis εε Orionisstring of pearls276-1S 01°1.70
16 BetelgeuseOrionis αα Orionisthe arm pit 2717N 07°0.58 var
17 CanopusCarinae αα Carinaecity of ancient Egypt264-53S 53°−0.72
18 SiriusCanis Majoris αα Canis Majoristhe scorching one 259-17S 17°−1.47
19 AdharaCanis Majoris εε Canis Majoristhe virgin256-29S 29°1.51
20 ProcyonCanis Minoris αα Canis Minorisbefore the dog 2455N 05°0.34
21 PolluxGeminorum β β GeminorumZeus' other twin son 24428N 28°1.15
22 AviorCarinae εε1 Carinaecoined name234-59S 59°2.4
23 SuhailVelorum λλ Velorumshortened form of Al Suhail, one Arabic name for Canopus223-43S 43°2.23
24 MiaplacidusCarinae ββ Carinaequiet or still waters222-70S 70°1.70
25 AlphardHydrae α α Hydraesolitary star of the serpent218-9S 09°2.00
26 RegulusLeonis α α Leonisthe prince20812N 12°1.35
27 DubheUrsae Majoris αα1 Ursae Majoristhe bear's back19462N 62°1.87
28 DenebolaLeonis β β Leonistail of the lion18315N 15°2.14
29 GienahCorvi γ γ Corviright wing of the raven176-17S 17°2.80
30 AcruxCrucis αα1 Cruciscoined from Bayer name174-63S 63°1.40
31 GacruxCrucis γγ Cruciscoined from Bayer name172-57S 57°1.63
32 AliothUrsae Majoris ε ε Ursae Majorisanother form of Capella16756N 56°1.76
33 SpicaVirginis α α Virginisthe ear of corn159-11S 11°1.04
34 AlkaidUrsae Majoris η η Ursae Majorisleader of the daughters of the bier15349N 49°1.85
35 HadarCentauri β β Centaurileg of the centaur149-60S 60°0.60
36 MenkentCentauri θ θ Centaurishoulder of the centaur149-36S 36°2.06
38 Rigil KentaurusCentauri αα1 Centaurifoot of the centaur140-61S 61°−0.01
37 ArcturusBootis αα Bootisthe bear's guard14619N 19°−0.04 var
39 ZubenelgenubiLibrae α α Libraesouthern claw 138-16S 16°3.28
40 KochabUrsae Minoris β β Ursae Minorisshortened form of "north star".13774N 74°2.08
41 AlpheccaCorona Borealis α α Corona Borealisfeeble one 12727N 27°2.24
42 Antares Scorpii αα Scorpiirival of Mars 113-26S 26°1.09
43 AtriaTrianguli Australis αα Trianguli Australiscoined from Bayer name108-69S 69°1.92
44 SabikOphiuchi η η Ophiuchisecond winner or conqueror103-16S 16°2.43
45 ShaulaScorpii λ λ Scorpiicocked-up part of the scorpion's tail097-37S 37°1.62
46 RasalhagueOphiuchi α α Ophiuchihead of the serpent charmer09613N 13°2.10
47 EltaninDraconis γ γ Draconishead of the dragon09151 N 51°2.23
48 Kaus AustralisSagittarii ε ε Sagittariisouthern part of the bow 084-34S 34°1.80
49 VegaLyrae α α Lyraethe falling eagle or vulture08139N 39°0.03
50 NunkiSagittarii σ σ Sagittariiconstellation of the holy city 076-26S 26°2.06
51 AltairAquilae α α Aquilaeflying eagle or vulture0639N 09°0.77
52 PeacockPavonis α α PavonisCoined from the English name of the constellation054-57S 57°1.91
53 DenebCygni αα Cygnitail of the hen05045N 45°1.25
54 EnifPegasi εε Pegasinose of the horse03410N 10°2.40
55 Al Na'irGruis αα Gruisbright one 028-47S 47°1.74
56 FomalhautPiscis Austrini α α Piscis Austrinimouth of the southern fish016-30S 30°1.16
57 MarkabPegasi α α Pegasisaddle 01415N 15°2.49
99* PolarisUrsae Minoris αα Ursae Minoristhe pole 31989N 89°2.01 var

Star charts

Navigators often use star charts to identify a star by its position relative to other stars. References like the Nautical Almanac and The American Practical Navigator provide four star charts, covering different portions of the celestial sphere. Two of these charts are azimuthal equidistant projections of the north and south poles. The other two cover the equatorial region of the celestial sphere, from the declination of 30° south to 30° north. The two equatorial charts are mercator projections, one for the eastern hemisphere of the celestial sphere and one for the western hemisphere. Note that unlike familiar maps, east is shown to the left and west is shown to the right. With this orientation, the navigator can hold the star chart overhead, and the arrangement of the stars on the chart will resemble the stars in the sky.
In the star charts, constellations are labelled with capital letters and indicated by dotted lines collecting their stars. The 58 selected stars for navigation are shown in blue and labelled with their common name, star number, and a Greek letter to indicate their Bayer designation. The additional 115 tabulated stars that can also be used for navigation are shown in red and labelled with a Greek letter to indicate their Bayer designation. Some additional stars not suitable for navigation are also included on the charts to indicate constellations, they are presented as unlabelled small red dots.

Equatorial stars

; Equatorial stars of the eastern hemisphere
The equatorial region of the celestial sphere's eastern hemisphere includes 16 navigational stars from Alpheratz in the constellation Andromeda to Denebola in Leo. It also includes stars from the constellations Cetus, Aries, Taurus, Orion, Canis Major and Minor, Gemini, and Hydra. Of particular note among these stars are "the dog star" Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, and four stars of the easily identified constellation Orion.
; Equatorial stars of the western hemisphere
The equatorial region of the celestial sphere's western hemisphere includes 13 navigational stars from Gienah in the constellation Corvus to Markab in Pegasus. It also includes stars from the constellations Virgo, Bootes, Libra, Corona Borealis, Scorpio, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, and Aquila. The variable star Arcturus is the brightest star in this group.

Northern stars

The 11 northern stars are those with a declination between 30° north and 90° north. They are listed in order of decreasing sidereal hour angle, or from the vernal equinox westward across the sky. Starting with Schedar in the constellation Cassiopeia, the list includes stars from the constellations Auriga, the Great and Little Bears, Draco, Lyra and Cygnus. The two brightest northern stars are Vega and Capella.
In the star chart to the right, declination is shown by the radial coordinate, starting at 90° north in the center and decreasing to 30° north at the outer edge. Sidereal hour angle is shown as the angular coordinate, starting at 0° at the left of the chart, and increasing counter-clockwise.

Southern stars

The 18 southern stars are those with a declination between 30° south and 90° south. They are listed in order of decreasing sidereal hour angle, or from the vernal equinox westward across the sky. Starting with Ankaa in the constellation Phoenix, the list includes stars from the constellations Eridanus, Carina, Crux, Centaurus, Libra, Triangulum Australe, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Pavo, and Grus. Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Achernar, and Hadar are the brightest stars in the southern sky.
In the star chart to the right, declination is shown by the radial coordinate, starting at 90° south in the center and decreasing to 30° south at the outer edge. Sidereal hour angle is shown as the angular coordinate, starting at 0° at the right of the chart, and increasing clockwise.

Footnotes

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