Flamsteed-Bayer
What does it mean?
Many of the brightest stars in our night sky were named by Johann Bayer using a method created by him in 1603. That naming method combines a Greek letter, usually in sequence of brightness, with the possessive or "genitive" form of the constellation's name. For example, Alpha Orionis is the name given to the bright, red giant star in the shoulder of Orion the hunter.

In the following table, the full spelling of each Greek letter is followed by its abbreviation. Two letters (alpha and chi) are each shown with a pair of abbreviations. In each case, the first is perhaps the most widely used.

In the second table, constellation names are shown in their possessive form along with their abbreviations.

Star names can be given as any combination of these. For instance, our next-door neighbor, Alpha Centauri (fully spelled out), can also be written as, "Alpha Cen," "Alp Cen," "Alf Cen," "Alp Centauri" and "Alf Centauri."

In 1725, J. Flamsteed published the final version of his star catalog. In it, he lists the stars numbered from one edge of each constellation to the other. The nearby, Sol-like star, Tau Ceti, was listed in that catalog as "52" within the constellation of Cetus, the whale. Today, astronomers frequently refer to these brighter stars by their Flamsteed designation, their Bayer name, or both — from our example, "52 Ceti," "Tau Ceti," or "52 Tau Ceti." It should be noted that many of the Flamsteed stars don't have a Bayer Greek letter. And, of course, most of the stars in our night sky were too dim to be included in either catalog.

Greek Letters:

========================== Alpha    = Alp or Alf  α Beta     = Bet         β Gamma    = Gam         γ ========================== Delta    = Del         δ Epsilon  = Eps         ε Zeta     = Zet         ζ ========================== Eta      = Eta         η Theta    = The         θ Iota     = Iot         ι ========================== Kappa    = Kap         κ Lambda   = Lam         λ Mu       = Mu          μ ==========================

========================== Nu       = Nu          ν Xi       = Xi          ξ Omicron  = Omi         ο ========================== Pi       = Pi          π Rho      = Rho         ρ Sigma    = Sig         σ ========================== Tau      = Tau         τ Upsilon  = Ups         υ Phi      = Phi         φ ========================== Chi      = Chi or Khi  χ Psi      = Psi         ψ Omega    = Ome         ω ==========================

Constellations (possessive form): ========================== Andromedae          = And Antliae             = Ant Apodis              = Aps ========================== Aquilae             = Aql Aquarii             = Aqr Arae                = Ara ========================== Arietis             = Ari Aurigae             = Aur Bootis              = Boo ========================== Caeli               = Cae Camelopardalis      = Cam Capricorni          = Cap ========================== Carinae             = Car Cassiopeiae         = Cas Centauri            = Cen ========================== Cephei              = Cep Ceti                = Cet Chamaeleontis       = Cha ========================== Circini             = Cir Canis Majoris       = CMa Canis Minoris       = CMi ========================== Cancri              = Cnc Columbae            = Col Comae Berenices     = Com ========================== Coronae Australis   = CrA Coronae Borealis    = CrB Crateris            = Crt ========================== Crucis              = Cru Corvi               = Crv Canum Venaticorum   = CVn ========================== Cygni               = Cyg Delphini            = Del Doradus             = Dor ========================== Draconis            = Dra Equulei             = Equ Eridani             = Eri ========================== Fornacis            = For Geminorum           = Gem Gruis               = Gru ========================== Herculis            = Her Horologii           = Hor Hydrae              = Hya ========================== Hydri               = Hyi Indi                = Ind Lacertae            = Lac ==========================

========================== Leonis              = Leo Leporis             = Lep Librae              = Lib ========================== Leonis Minoris      = LMi Lupi                = Lup Lyncis              = Lyn ========================== Lyrae               = Lyr Mensae              = Men Microscopii         = Mic ========================== Monocerotis         = Mon Muscae              = Mus Normae              = Nor ========================== Octantis            = Oct Ophiuchi            = Oph Orionis             = Ori ========================== Pavonis             = Pav Pegasi              = Peg Persei              = Per ========================== Phoenicis           = Phe Pictoris            = Pic Piscis Austrini     = PsA ========================== Piscium             = Psc Puppis              = Pup Pyxidis             = Pyx ========================== Reticuli            = Ret Sculptoris          = Scl Scorpii             = Sco ========================== Scuti               = Sct Serpentis           = Ser Sextantis           = Sex ========================== Sagittae            = Sge Sagittarii          = Sgr Tauri               = Tau ========================== Telescopii          = Tel Trianguli Australis = TrA Trianguli           = Tri ========================== Tucanae             = Tuc Ursae Majoris       = UMa Ursae Minoris       = UMi ========================== Velorum             = Vel Virginis            = Vir Volantis            = Vol Vulpeculae          = Vul ==========================