NameExoWorlds

NameExoWorlds (also known as IAU NameExoWorlds) is the name of various projects managed by the International Astronomical Union (I.A.U.) to encourage names to be submitted for astronomical objects, which would later be considered for official adoption by the organization.

The first such project (NameExoWorlds I), in 2015, regarded the naming of stars and exoplanets.[1] 573,242 votes were submitted by members by the time the contest closed on October 31, 2015, and the names of 31 exoplanets and 14 stars were selected from these.[2] Many of the names chosen were based on world history, mythology and literature.[3] In June 2019, another such project (NameExoWorlds II), in celebration of the organization's hundredth anniversary, in a project officially called IAU100 NameExoWorlds,[4][5] welcomed countries of the world to submit names for exoplanets and their host stars.[6][7] A star with an exoplanet was assigned to each country, and members of the public submitted names for them.

In August 2022, the third NameExoWorlds project was announced, which gave names to 20 exoplanets and their host stars, all of which are targets for observation by the James Webb Space Telescope.[8] The names were announced in June 2023.[9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-20161202 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Pasachoff, Jay M.; Filippenko, Alex (11 July 2019). The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium. Cambridge University Press. pp. 658–659. ISBN 978-1-108-43138-5.
  3. ^ Jones, Brian (19 October 2019). Yearbook of Astronomy 2020. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-5267-5328-1.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference IAU-2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference IAU-20190606 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-20190614 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference MWS-20190607 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "NameExoWorlds 2022". nameexoworlds.iau.org. IAU. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Thai names chosen for distant stars". Bangkok Post. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.