From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of astronomical objects named after people . While topological features on
Solar System bodies — such as craters, mountains, and valleys — are often named after famous or historical individuals, many stars and
deep-sky objects are named after the individual(s) who discovered or otherwise studied it.
This list does not include astronomical objects named after mythological or fictional characters.
Clusters and groups
Stars
Al Sufi's cluster, also called
Brocchi's Cluster , is a coathanger-shaped
asterism located in
Vulpecula named after
Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi and
Dalmero Francis Brocchi .
Blanco 1 is an open cluster in Sculptor, named after
Victor Manuel Blanco .
Caroline's Cluster (
NGC 2360 ) is an
open cluster in
Canis Major , named after
Caroline Herschel .
Caroline's Rose (
NGC 7789 ) is an open cluster in
Cassiopeia , named after Caroline Herschel.
Gould Belt is a ring of stars in the
Orion Arm of the
Milky Way , named after
Benjamin Apthorp Gould
Grindlay 1 is a globular star cluster in Scorpius, named after Jonathan E. Grindlay.
Kemble's Cascade and Kemble's Kite are two
asterisms in
Camelopardalis , named after
Lucian Kemble .
Liller 1 is a globular star cluster in Scorpius, named after
William Liller .
Picot 1, also called Napoleon's Hat, is an asterism in
Boötes , named after
Fulbert Picot .
[1]
[2]
Ptolemy's Cluster (
Messier 7 ) is an open star cluster in
Scorpius , named after
Ptolemy .
Webb's wreath is a telescopic asterism in
Hercules , named after
Thomas William Webb .
[3]
Galaxies
Burbidge Chain is a group of galaxies located in
Cetus , named after
Margaret Burbidge .
[4]
Clowes–Campusano LQG is a
large quasar group in
Leo , named after
Roger Clowes and
Luis Campusano .
Copeland Septet is group of seven galaxies in Leo, named after
Ralph Copeland .
Keenan's System (
Arp 104 ) is a pair of connected galaxies in
Ursa Major , named after
Philip Childs Keenan .
Markarian's Chain is a chain of galaxies in the
Virgo Cluster , named after
Benjamin Markarian
Robert's Quartet is a group of galaxies in
Phoenix , named after Robert Freedman.
Seyfert's Sextet is a group of galaxies in
Serpens , named after
Carl Keenan Seyfert .
Stephan's Quintet is a group of galaxies in
Pegasus , named after
Édouard Stephan .
Wild's Triplet is a group of galaxies in
Virgo , named after
Paul Wild .
Zwicky's Triplet is a group of galaxies in
Hercules , named after
Fritz Zwicky .
Galaxy clusters and superclusters
Comets
Comet names are often given for the astronomer(s) who discovered it, but they can also be for scientists who gave significant contributions towards their study.
Interstellar comets
Great comets
Periodic comets
Craters
Galaxies
In most cases, the named individual was the person who discovered the galaxy, who first brought attention to it, or who first studied it scientifically. Many of the brighter galaxies visible from the
Northern Hemisphere have
Messier numbers, named after
Charles Messier . There are a few other comprehensive catalogs that assign the cataloguer's name to galaxies. For instance,
Markarian galaxies , named after
Benjamin Markarian , are galaxies with excess blue and ultraviolet emission;
[5] galaxies in the
Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies are assigned an Arp number after
Halton Arp who produced the catalog; etc. Objects in these catalogs are excluded below, except in cases where they carry the name of an additional person.
Ambartsumian's Knot, a small tidal
dwarf galaxy located in
NGC 3561 in
Ursa Major , named after
Viktor Ambartsumian
Barnard's Galaxy (
NGC 6822 ) is located in
Sagittarius , named after
E. E. Barnard .
Bedin I , a dwarf spheroidal galaxy
Burçin's Galaxy is a ring galaxy in
Crater , named after
Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil
Bode's Galaxy is
Messier 81 , a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.
Coddington's Nebula is dwarf spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, named after
Edwin Foster Coddington .
Donatiello I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy about 10.7 million light-years, close to NGC404. It is named after the Italian amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello. Donatiello discovered three more NGC 253 satellite galaxies in 2020, named Donatiello II, Donatiello III and Donatiello IV [A&A 652, A48 (2021)].
Hoag's Object is a
ring galaxy in
Serpens , named after
Arthur Hoag .
Erik Holmberg described multiple galaxies that have since been named after him:
Holmberg II is a dwarf irregular galaxy about 9.8 million light-years away in the M81 Group
Holmberg IX is a dwarf irregular galaxy and a satellite galaxy of Messier 81.
Holmberg 15A is a supergiant elliptical galaxy and the central dominant galaxy of the Abell 85 galaxy cluster in the constellation Cetus.
Huchra's Lens is a lensed galaxy.
Kinman's Dwarf is a low-metallicity blue compact dwarf galaxy in
Aquarius .
Komossa's object is a galaxy in which the supermassive black hole disrupted a star.
Lindsay-Shapley Ring is a ring galaxy in
Volans
Maffei 1 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia and the closest giant elliptical galaxy to the Milky Way.
Maffei 2 is a spiral galaxy about 10 million light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.
Malin 1 is one of the largest spiral galaxies known and is the archetypal
Low Surface Brightness galaxy
Mayall's Object
Willman 1 is an ultra low-mass dwarf galaxy.
The
Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte galaxy is an irregular galaxy on the outer edges of the Local Group. It is in the constellation Cetus.
I Zwicky 18 is a dwarf irregular galaxy.
Minor planets and Solar System features
Nebulae
Barnard's
E Nebula is a pair of dark
nebula in
Aquila , named after
E. E. Barnard .
Barnard's Loop is an
emission nebula that is part of the
Orion molecular cloud complex in
Orion , named after
E. E. Barnard .
Barnard's Merope Nebula (
IC 349 ) is a nebula located in the
Pleiades cluster, named after
E. E. Barnard .
Baxendell's Unphotographable Nebula is an apparently nonexistent nebula located near
Messier 2 in
Aquarius , named after
Joseph Baxendell who first "discovered" it.
[6]
[7]
Burnham's Nebula is an
Herbig-Haro Object in
Taurus , named after
Robert Burnham Jr.
De Mairan's Nebula (Messier 43) is part of the
Orion molecular cloud complex , named after
Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan
Fleming 1 is a
planetary nebula in
Centaurus , named after
Williamina Fleming
Gum Nebula (Gum 12) is an emission nebula stretching across
Vela and
Puppis , named after
Colin Stanley Gum .
Hind's Variable Nebula (
NGC 1555 ) is in
Taurus , named after
John Russell Hind .
Hubble's Variable Nebula (
NGC 2261 ) is in
Monoceros , named after
Edwin Hubble .
Jones-Emberson 1 is a planetary nebula in
Lynx , named after Rebecca Jones and Richard M. Emberson.
Kleinmann–Low Nebula is a star-forming region found at the center of the
Orion Nebula , named after named after
Douglas Kleinmann and
Frank J. Low .
McNeil's Nebula is a variable nebula in
Orion , named after Jay McNeil.
Minkowski 2-9 or Minkowski's Butterfly is a planetary nebula in
Ophiuchus , named after
Rudolph Minkowski .
Pease 1 is a planetary nebula in the globular star cluster
Messier 15 , named after
Francis G. Pease .
Pickering's Triangle is a section of the Veil Nebula in
Cygnus , named after
Edward Charles Pickering .
Shapley 1 is a planetary nebula in
Norma , named after Harlow Shapley.
Struve's Lost Nebula (
NGC 1554 ) is a potentially nonexistent nebula in
Taurus , named after
Otto Wilhelm von Struve .
Tempel's Nebula (
NGC 1435 ) is a reflection nebula in
Taurus , named after
Wilhelm Tempel .
Westbrook Nebula is a
bipolar nebula in
Auriga , named after William E. Westbrook.
Stars
Other astronomical features
Arp's loop is a ring-like structure located near
Messier 81 in Ursa Major, named after
Halton Arp .
[8]
Baade's Window is an area of sky with low amounts of
cosmic dust in
Sagittarius , named after
Walter Baade .
Becklin–Neugebauer Object is located in the
Orion molecular cloud complex and only visible in
infrared , named after
Eric Becklin and
Gerry Neugebauer .
Fourcade-Figueroa Object is a potential galaxy remnant associated with
NGC 5128 in
Centaurus , named after
Carlos Raúl Fourcade and Edgardo Javier Figueroa.
[9]
Gabriela Mistral Nebula is the combination of open cluster
NGC 3324 and emission nebula IC 2599 in
Carina , named after the Chilean poet
Gabriela Mistral .
Gomez's Hamburger (IRAS 18059-3211) is a potentially young star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk in
Sagittarius , named after Arturo Gómez.
Hanny's Voorwerp is a quasar ionization echo near
IC 2497 in
Leo Minor , named after Hanny van Arkel.
Helmi stream is a stellar stream of the Milky Way galaxy, named after
Amina Helmi .
Hubble volume , a spherical region of the observable universe surrounding an observer beyond which objects recede from that observer at a rate greater than the speed of light due to the expansion of the universe, named after
Edwin Hubble .
KBC Void is an immense
empty region of space, named after
Ryan Keenan ,
Amy Barger , and
Lennox Cowie .
Mayall's Object is the result of a galaxy collision in
Ursa Major , named after
Nicholas Mayall .
9Spitch is a gravitationally lensed system of two galaxies in Cetus. It is named after Zbigniew "Zbish" Chetnik. The term Spitch comes from Chetnik's nickname Zbish , after a BBC producer misheard his nickname.
Oort cloud , named for
Jan Oort
Thackeray's Globules are a set of
Bok globules in
IC 2944 in
Centaurus , named after
A. David Thackeray .
See also
References
^
"Asterisms - Napoleon's Hat, Picot 1 | Houston Astronomical Society" . www.astronomyhouston.org . Retrieved 16 April 2021 .
^
"SOCO - Sentinel of the Caprock Observatory" . cat-star.org . Retrieved 16 April 2021 .
^ T. W. Webb, Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, Volume 2: The Stars , page 145 (Wreath of stars )
^
"Burbidge's Chain" . www.astronomy-mall.com . Retrieved 16 April 2021 .
^ B. E. Markarian (1967),
A catalog of Markarian galaxies , Astrofizika 3 , 55
^
"DOCdb - Baxendell's Nebula" . www.docdb.net . Retrieved 16 April 2021 .
^ Steinicke, Wolfgang (2010).
Observing and Cataloguing Nebulae and Star Clusters: From Herschel to Dreyer's New General Catalogue . Cambridge University Press. p.
384 .
ISBN
9781139490108 .
^ Sollima, A.; Paz, A. Gil de; Martinez-Delgado, D.; Gabany, R. J.; Gallego-Laborda, J. J.; Hallas, T. (1 June 2010).
"A multi-wavelength analysis of M 81: insight on the nature of Arp's loop" . Astronomy & Astrophysics . 516 : A83.
arXiv :
1004.1610 .
Bibcode :
2010A&A...516A..83S .
doi :
10.1051/0004-6361/201014085 .
^ Dottori, Horacio A.; Fourcade, Carlos R. (1973).
"The object Fourcade Figueroa, a shred associated with NGC 5128?" . Astronomy and Astrophysics . 23 : 405–409.
Bibcode :
1973A&A....23..405D . Retrieved 16 April 2021 .
External links