We'd like to use analytics cookies to understand which symbols people look up, so we know what to research next. They are not used for advertising and we set none of them unless you say yes. What we store.
Three letters standing for one of eighty-eight constellations.
Also known as: IAU constellation code, Three-letter constellation
Each of the eighty-eight constellations has an official three-letter abbreviation assigned by the IAU in 1922. The boundaries were fixed at the same period, so a constellation is a defined area of sky rather than a pattern of stars.
Abbreviates a constellation's Latin name to three letters, assigned officially by the International Astronomical Union.
Contexts: Technical drawing, Maps
Belongs to a fixed set of eighty-eight constellations whose boundaries were defined as areas of sky, so every point in the sky lies in exactly one.
Contexts: Technical drawing, Maps
Names an area rather than a pattern, so a star can belong to a constellation without being part of its recognisable figure.
Contexts: Technical drawing, Maps
Three capital letters printed after a star designation or on a chart boundary.