(Mostly) Thumbs Down on ExoNames, ManyWorlds
“One of the co-discoverers of HD 149026 b is Debra Fischer, now a professor of astronomy at Yale University. Asked her view of the 31 new exoplanet names she replied: “It would take a big push to change the names of exoplanets in the published literature. Every future publication would need to cross-list the former name(s) and this would be awkward and somewhat time consuming. Never say never, but it would require significant motivation for me to do this and I’m not feeling it right now.” Jason Wright, an astronomer and astrophysicist at Pennsylvania State University, said that doesn’t expect the new names to catch on with exoplanet scientists, with academic journals, and as a result probably not with the public. Wright is one of several who maintain exoplanet databases and who sent a letter to the IAU in 2013 questioning its proper role in exoplanet naming.”
Name An Extrasolar Planet – For Free, earlier post

Biologist, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Biologist and Payload integrator, Editor of NASAWatch.com and Astrobiology.com, Lapsed climber, Explorer, Synaesthete, Former Challenger Center board member...

9 replies on “Astronomers Frown On Extrasolar Planet Naming Contest”

  2. Well, God forbid the poor scientists would have to (horrors!) cross reference! Just so the plebs could, you know, get a piece of the excitement!

    At the appropriate times we use proper binomials when referring to plant material, but even among professionals a rose is a rose.

  3. Why not give exoplanets (trivial) names after the members of the teams who discover them? We’ve ran out of Gods, but the explorers are becoming more numerous.

      1. I haven’t seen a planet, moon, or asteroid named for the Flying Spaghetti Monster yet.

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