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IAU: No, You Can't Name That Exoplanet

Posted by Soulskill on from the who-died-and-made-you-president-of-planet-names dept.

astroengine writes "The International Astronomical Union (IAU) — the official body that governs the designations of all celestial bodies — in their capacity of purveyors of all things 'official' has deemed attempts at crowdsourcing names for exoplanets illegitimate. 'In the light of recent events, where the possibility of buying the rights to name exoplanets has been advertised, the International Astronomical Union wishes to inform the public that such schemes have no bearing on the official naming process,' writes Thierry Montmerle, General Secretary of the IAU in Paris, France. Although the 'schemes' are not specifically named, the most popular U.S.-based "exoplanet naming" group Uwingu appears to be the target of today's IAU statement. Set up by Alan Stern, planetary scientist and principal investigator for NASA's Pluto New Horizons mission, Uwingu encourages the public to nominate and vote (for a fee) on names for the slew of exoplanets steadily being discovered."

5 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. So what by aaaaaaargh! · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can name planets as you like. Whether you're understood or not depends on how many others follow your naming convention, of course.

    1. Re:So what by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Funny

      A light year is a unit of distance, not time.

      Says a man who's never made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    2. Re: So what by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Err..light year is a measure of distance but the light we see from something 1000 light years away ... is literally 1000 years old by the time it reaches us.

      Err, in astronomical terms a few thousand years is a blip. Would you go around correcting people at work every time they mention "home" to mention: "You don't know if there's is a home. For all you know it could have already burned down before you get back.".

      No - it's stupid. Any planet observable with these techniques is close enough that there's such a small chance of it being destroyed by now that its not even worth worrying about.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  2. buying a star by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Informative

    It reminded me of the star naming schemes I read about decades ago. I checked to see what the IAU has to say about that. Whoever wrote that FAQ seems depressed at the sad state of intellect in commercial America.....

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  3. Re:Lol by ceoyoyo · · Score: 4, Informative

    The International Astronomical Union gives astronomical objects their official names, by international agreement. They accept suggestions and proposals, but they do not sell naming rights.

    You can call astronomical objects whatever you want. The IAU is pointing out that paying someone for the privilege is kind of a dumb thing to do.