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Astronomy

Name An Extrasolar Planet – For Free

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
August 12, 2015
Filed under
Name An Extrasolar Planet – For Free

NameExoWorlds Contest Opens for Public Voting
“Although people have been naming celestial objects for millennia, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the authority responsible for assigning official names to celestial bodies. The NameExoWorlds contest provides not only the first opportunity for the public to name exoplanets, but also — for the first time in centuries — to give names to stars. Twenty stars with known exoplanets in orbit around them are among the objects selected to be named. Astronomy clubs and non-profit organizations from 45 countries submitted 247 proposals for the names of the 20 ExoWorlds.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

5 responses to “Name An Extrasolar Planet – For Free”

  1. ProfSWhiplash says:
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    I would want to name the first true twin planets discovered after MIB characters — “Meet the twins: Idbibblup and Bob,”

  2. Zathras1 says:
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    I want to name a planet like XKCD did: “Neil Tysons’s Moustache”

  3. Yale S says:
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    I’m setting up a company “Name An Exoplanet!”.
    $45.99 to have the name stored in the official company database.

  4. ProfSWhiplash says:
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    Actually that’s not a bad idea. Or at least given the likelihood that we’ll eventually find millions of planets, that’s just TOO MUCH for anything we can use! We’d end up using every name – mythological & personal – in human history, followed by every word (like, “celery”) from every language in human history… and we’d eventually be repeating ourselves!
    Or maybe we’ll end up using word-combos and sentences for names: “Mission Control, we’ve begun our de-orbit burn, and will soon land on Planet ‘My-Hovercraft-Is-Full-Of-Eels.”

    If I may suggest to the IAU, they ought to hang on to those code labels which have some logic to them. Save the naming contest for earth-like planets found in a system’s Goldilocks zone. At most, they might then also name those notable planets’ sibling worlds within that same star system (and even name that star, if it had no name). Then, there’d be a chance for a reasonable choice of names.

  5. fcrary says:
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    I really wouldn’t worry about the eventual settlers. If they don’t like the name, they will just come up with another and ignore what the IAU decided in 2015. Honestly, how many people who live in places originally called New Holland or New Amsterdam actually know those names? How many care, as more than a piece of trivia?

    IAU names are mostly for the convenience of astronomers. A short, pronouncable name is just easier to use than something like “HD 18372C”. IAU approval means everyone is using the same, short, convenient name, which avoids confusion.