Friday, June 24, 2011

Gould Designations: G. or no G. ?

I had a disagreement a while back with a scientist/astronomer about Gould numbers. Do Gould Designations have a G. or not? (e.g. 82 G. Eridani). He claimed he'd never even heard of the G., and felt that few people would be, or would want to be.

Historically, the G has always been present. I can also say that all atlases and publications I've come across include the G (his put-down of Sky & Telescope as publications for amateurs--what's with that?). So I said, as I still believe, that the G. is correct.

But I've been thinking. If the G. were dropped, it would be 'incorrect', but perhaps it would lead to Gould numbers being more popular. Pithy is good. Even though the G. is correct, maybe for the future they should be dropped.  33 G. Librae would have to keep the G. (33 Librae, a Flamsteed designation, already exists), but in most cases it could be done.

Thinking about it.

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