Star Names That Start With H

There are currently 8 stars in the catalog of the International Astronomical Union whose names begin with the letter h.

The letter ‘H’ has some mysterious and mythical sounding star names like Hadar, Helvetios, and Haedus.

The following table lists them all. Here’s the nomenclature for the columns to the right:

Name: The proper or colloquial name for the star.

Constellation: The group of stars the star belongs to.

Bayern Designation: The ordered name for the star in the Bayern catalog of stars.

Designation: The ‘scientific’ name for the star in the IAU catalog. This is the name astronomers generally use.

Approval Date: The date the proper name was officially approved for the IAU catalog. Most names have been used for a much longer time though.

NameConstellationBayern DesignationDesignationApproval Date
HadarCentaurusβ Centauri AaHR 52672016-08-21
HaedusAurigaη AurigaeHR 16412017-06-30
HamalAriesα ArietisHR 6172016-07-20
HassalehAurigaι AurigaeHR 15772017-06-30
HatysaOrionι Orionis AaHR 18992017-09-05
HelvetiosPegasus51 PegasiHR 87292015-12-15
HezeVirgoζ Virginis AHR 51072018-06-01
HomamPegasusζ Pegasi AHR 86342016-08-21

This list does not include some of the proposed star names that are proposed every year, but still haven’t been fully approved and made official.

Find more star names that start with the letter:

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