trap of reaching the end of the alphabet while still having stars to name. After two subsequent supplementary double-lettering systems hit similar limits, numbers were finally introduced. As with all categories of astronomical objects, names are assigned by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The IAU delegates the task to the Sternberg Astronomical Institute and the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia. Sternberg publishes the General Catalog of Variable Stars (GCVS), which is periodically (approximately once every two years) amended by the publication of a new "Name-List" of variable stars. For example, in December 2011 the 80th Name-List of Variable Stars, Part II, was released, containing designations for 2,161 recently discovered variable stars; these brought the total number of variable stars in the GCVS to 45,678. Among the newly designated objects were V0654 Aurigae, V1367 Centauri, and BU Coronae Borealis. See also Star catalogue Star designation References Further reading designation Stellar astronomy