How to Name a Newly Discovered Planet
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How to name a newly discovered planet? We've all had a thought: why not give it an astronomical name? Among the many options available to us, there are the blueish-white Gokturk, the rocky Ursae Majoris, and the bluish-red Fomalhaut. Whichever option you pick, the process is simple and fun.
Gokturk
The naming of new worlds is a tradition for amateur astronomers. It brings the wonder and awe of the universe into perspective. But how do you pick a name for a new planet? Here are some guidelines. The proposal should be one word, no longer than 16 characters, and must not be offensive or similar to an existing astronomical object. Proposals cannot include the names of living people, pets, trademarks, or commercial products. Names submitted to the contest will be announced in August 2015.
Names for new planets can be chosen from among those suggested by the IAU's guidelines. These guidelines state that names should be given to planets discovered before 2009. The IAU has a strict policy against naming recently spotted planets, but this does not mean you should never name a newly discovered planet! As long as you are naming a planet after its discovery, it's fine to use its original scientific name, as long as it's unique to that planet.
Newly discovered planets are named by the public. The process of naming celestial bodies is governed by the International Astronomical Union, which is composed of more than 11,000 members. The IAU's naming guidelines aim to keep the sky more orderly. A new planet is usually assigned a name based on a majority vote. For this reason, the process is open to the public.
After the initial discovery of the planet, the IAU will certify the name. Names of craters and new features on Venus must be given names of women, as they are often the first things scientists discover. New moons on Uranus are named after Shakespeare characters, and objects in the kuiper belt are named after deities. The discoverer, however, typically chooses the name that will be certified by the IAU.
Fomalhaut
How do you name a newly discovered planet? The process is not as difficult as it might sound. It is possible for anyone to suggest a name for a newly discovered planet, as long as the suggested name is scientifically useful. A task group or working group will consider the name suggestions and then publish them in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Here are some examples. Hippocamp, discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope, has been called Methuselah. The Chang'e 4 mission landed on Statio Tainhe, which was named after the ancient Chinese name for the Milky Way.
A committee of astronomers called the International Astronomical Union (IAU) was formed in 1919 to serve as the official authority on naming astronomical objects. As the names for the other planets in our solar system were already in place, the IAU's goal was to give the newly discovered objects a scientifically correct and unique name. As more planets were discovered, this issue came to the fore.
The IAU recommends that a newly discovered planet be named after the star it orbits. However, if the planet was discovered by a telescope, the telescope's name may be more appropriate. Telescopes often include a letter and number indicating the order in which they discovered a star system. This system has a code that explains how the planet was discovered and can tell a story about its discovery.
There is a lengthy process involved in naming new celestial bodies. While the public can submit suggestions for names, the naming process is overseen by the International Astronomical Union, which has more than 11,000 members and is the de facto authority in this area. However, names chosen by groups other than the IAU are not permitted on official astronomical maps. The International Astronomical Union, in turn, encourages collaboration between scientists, so that new planets are appropriately named.
Ursae Majoris
Nu Ursae Majoris is a double star located 399 light years away from our solar system. It is also a giant star with a radius 57 times that of the Sun and a luminosity 775 times that of the Sun. The traditional name for Nu Ursae Majoris is Alula Borealis, which derives from the Arabic word al-Ula and the Latin word "borealis", which means northern.
Astronomers studied the star for 13 years to determine the planet's mass and orbit. They detected the wobbling motions of the planet by measuring the Doppler shift of the star's spectrum. While the planet's exact composition and size is unknown, it is likely to be a gas giant with no solid surface. If so, it may have an atmosphere made of water and ammonia clouds.
After locating the planetary system, scientists compared the two stars with the sun. The result showed that a planet orbits both stars. The star 51 Pegasi was the first star known to have a planet orbiting it. The stars 47 Ursae Majoris and 51 Pegasi showed the greatest wobble in their orbits. UC Berkeley's press release shows a large chart comparing the two stars.
Megrez is the faintest star in the Big Dipper. It is a main-sequence star with a visual magnitude of 3.312 and a mass of 63%. It also produces excess infrared light, which indicates that it is in an orbital debris disk. The name Megrez derives from the Arabic word al-maghriz, meaning "base".
The Big Dipper asterism also has its own astrological significance. During the nighttime, Ursa Major is a bright, blue main-sequence star. It's also a famous guide for travelers to Polaris. Its seven stars have been named after the stars, including Alkaid, Megrez, and Sargas. The asterism also contains a blue star 102 times brighter than our Sun, designated Epsilon Ursae Majoris.
Iota Ursae Majoris is a binary star with two A-type main-sequence dwarfs orbiting it. The system is approximately 138 light years away. It is associated with a star known as Groombridge 1830, a subdwarf star belonging to the spectral class G8V. The stars orbit each other every eighteen-years.
Ursae Minoris
In ancient astronomy, the three brightest stars of Ursa Minor were named Nuutuittut, but in modern times, Nuutuittut is usually used for Polaris alone, because it is too high in the sky to be used as a compass in far northern latitudes. In Chinese astronomy, the main stars of Ursa Minor are grouped into two asterisms: a UMi and d UMi. Known as the Little Dipper, a UMi is easily spotted in the night sky.
The constellation Ursa Minor contains 7 main stars, and 59 newly discovered stars. While it is possible to view the main stars of Ursa Minor without a telescope, most of its stars are best seen with a telescope. Ursa Minor is found in the NQ3 quadrant of the sky and can only be seen from the Northern hemisphere. It is a relatively small constellation, covering only 256 square degrees. It belongs to the Ursa Major constellation family. The closest neighbours to it are Draco, Cepheus, and Camelopardalis.
The brightest star in Ursa Minor is Polaris, 430 light years away. It is the closest star to the north pole. During the Renaissance, voyagers used it to navigate, and it was named Polaris by Gemma Frisius, a Dutch physician, geographer, and mathematician. The star is located at a distance of 3deg7' from the North Celestial Pole.
Alpha Ursae Minoris, the North Star, is another candidate. It is 430 light-years from Earth and a main-sequence supergiant star. Interestingly, Herschel's star also has a companion star, Polaris B. In 1780, Sir William Herschel noticed that Polaris was a binary star. He began to study Polaris B's spectrum and subsequently named the new planet Alpha Ursae Minoris.
The star, Delta Ursae Minoris, is 183 light-years away. It is an A-type main-sequence dwarf star. Its light fluctuates by 0.05 magnitudes with a period of 3.43 hours. The size of Alpha Ursae Minoris is 15 times larger than the Sun's. Among other names for this new planet, "Pherkad" is also a possible name.
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