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Public To Vote On Names For Exoplanets
An anonymous reader writes In response to the increased interest by the public in astronomy, the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the world authority that names objects in space, is giving the public a chance to name up to 30 planets from a pre-selected group of 305 exoplanets. "Before you get excited about naming HAT-P-7b after your first pet goldfish, it's worth taking a look at the restrictions the IAU places on its minor planet names. The 16 characters or less must be 'pronounceable (in as many languages as possible)' and non-offensive in any language or culture. The names of living persons are verboten, pet names are 'discouraged,' and you can't use a name that is commercial or has political, military, or religious connotations." The proposed names can be submitted by astronomy clubs and non-profit organizations interested in astronomy and votes will be cast by the public from across the world.
... non-offensive in any language or culture...
So they have seen what 4chan can do?
No religious connotations. So names like "Jupiter" and "Mars" and "Pluto" are right out. Even names like "Charon" are verboten.
<cough>
Before the whiners comes to explain us IAU has no more authority to name astral bodies than anyone else.
If you're in the US: the IAU authority comes from the National Academies joining the IAU. The National Academies got its authority from the US president in 1963 when he signed the Act of Incorporation which created the National Academies.
I predict they will be named Colbert1 to Colbert30.
These offers to let the public 'vote' are nothing but promotions to get people to visit websites, etc. In the end, the names will be picked from an internal list that is curated by insiders.
Under this criteria, not a single planet (or former planet) in this solar system should keep its name, as pretty much all of them run the risk of offending someone who prays to a different diety than the ones that the ancient Romans and Greeks did. Hell, while they're at it, they might as well go through all the astronomical catalogs and weed out all these pesky offensive "religious" names, because they're all over the place. It's pathetic how far people will go these days to attempt to not "offend" even a fly...
won't end well . . .
You go to the nameexoworlds.org website - same deal.
You read the rules and all submissions (max 250 words) must be in english, too.
Given that this is about astronomical objects that are so far away, to them The Earth doesn't even register as a blip. Therefore to limit the naming process to one single earthly language seems like an extraordinary limitation. Especially when you consider that so many stars have Arabic names - couldn't we be a bit more inclusive?
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
There already is a generator.
Expect the first planet to be named Lave, and be famous for its vast rain forests and Laveian tree grub.
I'm pretty sure that the Americas were named differently once. Well, the native population will simply have to get used to a new name
Actually, untravelled natives do not usually have a name for where they live - they don't need one, it is just "here". "Britain" was so named by the Romans, not the Britons. "England" means the "Land of the Angles", not the sort of name you give to your own place but is what a non-Angle would say.
In the UK, the most common names for rivers are "Ouse" and "Avon". They simply mean "River" in old languages. When I was a kid I lived by the River Wandle. Unless you were explaining it to an outsider, no-body ever referred to it in speech as "The Wandle" it was always just "the river".
Interestingly, this is sort of the case with Earth. As in, how much is it a proper name and how much a descriptive one?
Ezekiel 23:20