<p>As the names and numbers are essentially arbitrary, the Hipparcos designation cannot be calculated from the Bayer or Flamsteed designation.  Instead you have to look up the star in a database. </p>

<p>There is a <a href="http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/Cat?IV/27A" rel="nofollow noreferrer">HD-DM-GC-HR-HIP-Bayer-Flamsteed Cross Index</a> on line.  (<a href="http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/nph-Cat/txt?IV%2F27A/catalog.dat" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Direct link</a>)You can get a computer to do the look up for you. Or if you only have a small number of stars, you can use SIMBAD and do the look-up by hand.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-07T15:04:18.620Z
SIMBAD supports uploading a list of designations from a file and so you don't need to do it all by hand.
astrosnapper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-07T10:58:25.610Z
2018-08-07T10:58:25.610Z
James K
<p>In a text file I have a table of star data with Bayer/Flamsteed designations. I need to convert these into Hipparchos numbers. How can I automatically do this? </p>

<star-catalogues>
How can I convert Bayer/Flamsteed designations to Hipparchos numbers?
Alphecca
# How can I convert Bayer/Flamsteed designations to Hipparchos numbers?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-08-07)

In a text file I have a table of star data with Bayer/Flamsteed designations. I need to convert these into Hipparchos numbers. How can I automatically do this?

**Tags:** star-catalogues


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-08-07. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

As the names and numbers are essentially arbitrary, the Hipparcos designation cannot be calculated from the Bayer or Flamsteed designation. Instead you have to look up the star in a database.

There is a [HD-DM-GC-HR-HIP-Bayer-Flamsteed Cross Index](http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/Cat?IV/27A) on line. ([Direct link](http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/nph-Cat/txt?IV%2F27A/catalog.dat))You can get a computer to do the look up for you. Or if you only have a small number of stars, you can use SIMBAD and do the look-up by hand.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: SIMBAD supports uploading a list of designations from a file and so you don't need to do it all by hand.  

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