Slashdot Mirror
Nearest Alien Planet Gets New Name
SchrodingerZ writes "The nearest planet outside our solar system has recently been named Albertus Alauda. Originally named Alpha Centauri Bb, the planet is the closest known planet not orbiting the Sun, being a mere 4.3 light years away. The name comes from Jay Lark, who won the naming contest held by Uwingu starting last month and ending on April 22. Lark remarks that the name comes from the Latin name of his late grandfather, stating, "My grandfather passed away after a lengthy and valiant battle with cancer; his name in Latin means noble or bright and to praise or extol." The competition for naming the planet came from Uwing, a company which used the buying of name proposals and votes to fund grants for future space exploration ventures. Albertus Alauda won the competition with 751 votes, followed by Rakhat with 684 votes, and Caleo, with 622 votes."
Hideki!
The only known planet in Alpha Centauri should naturally have been named "Sid Meier". Any other name will be forgotten in no time by most people.
I'm not sure what to be more surprised about, that 751 suckers paid money to vote on a meaningless name competition, or that slashdot got duped into publishing it as if anyone other than Uwing will actually use the name.
This is just another variant on those "name a star after your mom" scams.
Well, that fine.
But I name that planet Bob. And seeing that have just as much authority to name extraterestial bodies as this company that isn't even important enough to have a wikipedia article.
HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
The bird is the word
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
You get a nice certificate and nothing else. The IAU hasn't even started the process to create the procedure to name exoplanets.
The recognized standards body is the International Astronomical Union and their policy is:
Exoplanets
In 2009, the Organizing Committee of IAU Commission 53 Extrasolar Planets (WGESP) on exoplanets discussed the possibility of giving popular names to exoplanets in addition to their existing catalogue designation (for instance HD 85512 b). Although no consensus was reached, the majority was not in favour of this possibility at the time.
However, considering the ever increasing interest of the general public in being involved in the discovery and understanding of the Universe, the IAU decided in 2013 to restart the discussion of the naming procedure for exoplanets and assess the need to have popular names as well. In 2013 the members of Commission 53 will be consulted in this respect and the result of this will be made public on this page.
This is just a company click-baiting by holding naming contests, they have no official standing whatsoever. Is this more dice.com crap?
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
I think the International Astronomical union is the only "Earthly" organization to assign official names to astronomical objects...
It's been blown up by the Romulans, remember?
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Name it samzenpus in the hope that one day soon he will go there and never come back.
By def.
For the Slashdot entry, Phokenaye.
How about ... the first person to set foot on the planet gets to name it?
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
When the native Alaudans were asked "what does the name of your planet mean in your tongue?"
"Dirt", they replied.
-SS "Teach the ignorant, care for the dumb, and punish the stupid."
when they pry the planet Pluto from my cold, dead hands.
Damn he won the contest. As a former member of a team that discovered planets using gravitational microlensing I always wanted to get the chance to name a planet "Koozebane", which is the planet many muppet aliens (supposedly) come from. Instead they got named boring things like "MACHO-98-BLG-35". Lucky guy to name the planet.
who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
The eXoPlanet Not Officially Named By That Scam Company
You are a retard. By def.
The term "alien planet" is actually quite commonly used, which you would have know if you had just taken one fucking minute to Google it.
It means, of course, a planet outside our solar system.
We live in our fantasy worlds more guys. Just think that all our planets are named after deities, who may have actually just been masters in the Greek world that felt enamored by having their slaves name planets after them in the future.
I've always felt that there's something much more noble about fantasy and gaming than I first thought. It's empowering you to say no t the representations forced upon you that mean nothing. Alpha centauri Bb is an entirely more respectable name for a planet. It's alpha donating -1 (first), centauri - constellation shaped liked centaur and Bb being the designation of not being Aa - whatever Aa is. It's a selfish name that's even worse, naming it after his late Father.
Here on Earth, we should have the chance to use the language to shape and condition naming conventions based on something more ambitious and inspiring - like for example actual properties of the planet or quirkiness of it, based on a deeper understanding, rather than naming a boy after his father, how about investigating hos star sign.
For example, did you know Io is the only moon in our solar system that makes a noise, like other planets with magnetic fields. Io, doesn't have a magnetic field either but it interacts so strongly with Jupiter that it makes it makes its own sound. (You can google 'sound of Jupiter' etc. ).
So, for Io, lets assume a thoughtful and endearing name for Io (what makes it distinct in one thoughtful way) is some play on the word 'conductor'.
Jupiter generates a very beautiful sound from its electromagnetic waves when its frequency is shifted and shifted into the audible spectrum. Io makes a sound because it dances inside the EM field of Jupiter and is so in a way like an instrument or a conductor. I like to think of Jupiter as a great symphony and Io, (which also makes nice sounds) is a conductor. The Greek name for conductor is 'Agowash'
There have been many great music conductors, but there's one named 'Rattle' which also happens to be a child's instrument, and would make a decent name.
Or we could say that because Io is a very volcanic planet from this EM interaction and gravitational effect of Jupiter that is like an active volcano. Active volcanoes on Earth are ones that have been active in our current geological epoch, so you could name it after this epoch - 'Holocene'
Live more in your fantasy and your mind, I say guys, because there's very little in this world that will inspire you. These days, that which is interesting is inversely proportional to that which is popular.
Or you could name it Albertus Alauda......
When I learned that a tanker was named after Condoleezza Rice, I got an idea:
What if we dedicated a kind of object (fuel delivery vehicle or installation may be a good choice, but it can be anything, even exoplanets) to be named after the worst people we know, but the person or organization naming it must be confined to someone close in origin, to avoid obvious abuse? Maybe specifically exclude Hitler from available choices, but imagine living in a colony on the planet Malyuta Skuratov or Andrei Chikatilo...
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
It's been blown up by the Romulans, remember?
No, it was blown up by Young Darth Vader in an odd shaped Death Star. The names were changed to protect the innocent. That was just a practice round to prove to Disney that the director was capable of making Star-Wars movies.
What do the residents of the planet have to say about this?
/* No Comment */
Was this by international treaty? As they say, "I don't remember voting for you."
Only 700 votes? We could easily have had a planet named SlashDot!
Privacy is terrorism.
The fuck, man? Posting a story that 700-some idiots paid actual money to have a chance to give an exoplanet a non-official name and pretending like it means something?
Is this Slashdot or is it Entertainment Weekly?
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
It's Albertus Alauda, powered by Dice (TM).
um. no. some dotcom doesn't get to sell naming rights to planets. and some dude doesn't get to immortalize his papa because he can fill in an online form. gramps may have been awesome, but he doesn't get the nearest extra-solar planet named after him...
It is pitch dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
The second planet now known to be wasted by humans.
I like how this is rated "Funny" by people who most likely will forget the name within an hour. What was the name again? Albertus... something. At least Sid Meier is something we can remember with minimal effort.
Wouldn't the obvious choice be Zephram? After all, he was from Alpha Centuri before he was from Montana.
Well, depending on your subjective timeline, that is.
Either that, or name it Londo.
"the International Astronomical Union issued a press release stressing its authority as the sole arbiter of the exoplanet-naming process"
While this of course is at best a PR/Fundraising scheme, and at worst a scam, I don't particularly have much respect for the IAU either. Some of their past decisions are less about science, and more about politics. They CONSIDER themselves the "official" naming organization but in the annals of history I don't think their decisions are going to mean a hole lot.
Star Wars happened "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ..."
I can live with the name, but I thought "Caleo" was a nie choice as well. "Caleo" is "flame" in latin.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
While it's cute that Uwingu let this guy believe he named a planet for his dead grandpa, it's not cool that they seem to be presenting it as an official, authoritative name.
Uwingu chooses names, sure, but they are official only to Uwingu itself and optionally, some of their users.
Until and unless the IAU gives some authority to Uwingu, they have none. IAU says it's still AlphaCent-Bb.
The preceding comment is my own, and in no way construes an opinon of the Emperor of Mankind.
Do you have a lot of Prince Albert in a U.S. can?
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
We Canucks would love that :)
Star Wars happened "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ..."
...from the person telling the story.
"Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
The local race in that area (Alpha Century) is not going to be happy about it once they find out, in about 75 years time or so.
We must call it Wunderland, I think that should be obvious to this crowd...
There is already a Disney World. ;-)
Now we know there is a planet by Alpha Centauri hadn't we better check out their local planning department to find out when that damn hyperspace bypass is coming through?
As long as you can't set foot and have a permanent presence on the moon/exoplanet, it is just fun. Unless people pay money then it is a scam.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
Maybe an American will finally discover an actual planet one day. Everyone else already has.
Uwingu has never maintained that the winning name will be anything other than a popular or common moniker, he says.
With only a couple of thousand people taking part, it's not even honest to call it a "popular" or "common" name.
is not a Latin name.
This is precisely why I want scientists naming planets according to an accepted method of taxonomy. Koozebane? Seriously? Because muppets? I like the muppets as much as the next man but come on - a heavenly object stuck with a ridiculous name like that forever just because some guy thought it would be funny? Ugh no.
Then you had better not look at the names of asteroids... some of them are pretty whimsical. "19383 Rolling Stones" is just an example.
Esli epei etot cumprenan, shris soa Sfaha.
Who by? Me. I expect everyone to start using the revised name immediately. Yeah, right. Let's be real - I have just as much right (or more accurately, as little) as anyone else to give it a name. Uwingu certainly don't have any more standing to do so than I do. Even the IAU only comes closest because most people who're seriously involved in astronomy are inclined to give deference to it. Until and unless that's underpinned by an international treaty with legal backing, though, this is simple drivel.
We've already got a Vulcan. And it's closer than that.
Who thought that one up?
...they register your name with the copyright office!!!
Y'know, like the place you pay 35 bucks to register your poetry or a novel... or a meaningless list of suckers. I mean star registers.
Not so far away that travel was impossible between ours and theirs. Remember, ET's race has been to Earth, and was also a member of the Senate.
We've already got a Vulcan. And it's closer than that.
Einstein sort of took care of that. Mercury is deep enough in the Sun's gravity well that the Newtonian discrepancies which would support the existence of Vulcan are explained away by the curvature of space-time.
Texas?
What gives this particular company any legitimate right to name planets? I say that the first one to land on it should get naming rights. That'll show whether they're serious about sponsoring space exploration, or are just ripping off feeble-minded individuals who think they also own a piece of the Moon and a star named after their cat.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
It's actual name is Rann, according to the inhabitants.
And Adam Strange, who's been there....
mark
In the year 2263:
Teacher: Well, class. Let's all welcome our new student Jimmy. His family just moved here to Mars from Alpha Centauri. Jimmy, why don't you tell us what it was like. What planet did your family live on?
Jimmy: mumble mumble
Teacher: I'm sorry, I didn't get that.
Jimmy: Albertus Alauda
Nelson: Your planet is named after some dead guy's grandpa who won a contest! Ha ha!
Teacher: That's enough. It's true, all seventeen billion Albertus Alaudans live on a planet named in a contest by a bunch of people who might as well been carrying spears.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Planet should have single word name. Albertus would be perfectly fine. Adding second word make thing too long and cubersome.
They have NO official standing anywhere - you spend your time just as wisely voting for dancing with the stars *gags*
I guess some primates have really low thresholds of entertainment.
Would have been the obvious choice.
Vulcan circled Tau Ceti, about 10 light years away. Alpha Centuri had a colony of Celts, Greeks, and North Africans that were transported there by the Preservers.
Ye Gods! Does no one read the Star Trek Technical Manual, anymore?
I think we should name it Pluto ... after Mickey Mouse's dog. I heard that name wasn't being used by a planet any more.
Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)