New Delhi: Students studying in schools and colleges across India were last month given a chance to name a planetary system comprising an exoplanet and its host star located 340 light years away from Earth. The Astronomical Society of India has received over 1,500 entries so far, but it is not very happy with the suggestions — for, most don’t sound ‘Indian’.
The society said students might have “misunderstood” the idea and ended up suggesting non-Indian names.
“A lot of metro city students misunderstood the idea and have suggested English or Greek names,” Aniket Sule, chairperson of ASI’s Public Outreach and Education Committee, told ThePrint.
He added, “Indian doesn’t necessarily mean Sanskrit-based, but certainly not things like Alexa, Vibranium or Cerberus.”
The deadline to send entries for the Name ExoWorlds (India) contest has now been extended to 31 August, and the astronomical society hopes more students from smaller towns and rural areas will take part and send in their suggestions. Students can send their entries through this link on the website of the society’s Public Outreach & Education Committee.
HD 86081 planetary system
As part of its centenary celebrations, the Paris-based International Astronomical Union (IAU) — the authority responsible for assigning official designations and names to celestial bodies — has given each country a chance to name one planetary system. An exoplanet is defined as any planet outside the solar system.
Each nation’s designated star is visible from the country, sufficiently bright to be observed through small telescopes.
After scanning through a range of confirmed exoplanets and their host stars, the IAU100 NameExoWorlds Steering Committee has assigned the planetary system with the star HD 86081 to India.
The HD 86081 is slightly hotter, larger and older than Sun, the IAU has said in a release.
Its exoplanet — HD 86081 b — orbits around the star. The exoplanet appears to be similar to Jupiter in size and mass, but orbits very close to its star. It is expected that this planet will have very high temperature. The star is located in the constellation of Sextans and visible in Indian skies.
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Name ExoWorlds (India) contest rules
Students in the age group 10-18 years (school level) can suggest a name for the exoplanet, HD 86081 b, while those in the age group 18-22 years (college level) can suggest a name for the host star.
A national vote on about 10 shortlisted names will take place from 1 October to 1 November. The final set of names will be sent to the IAU for consideration. After validation by the IAU100 NameExoWorlds Steering Committee, the global results will be announced in December this year.
The winning names will be used parallel with the existing scientific nomenclature for the objects, with due credit to the persons that proposed them.
To ensure a fair process of naming these two celestial bodies, a senior level national committee has also been specially created by the Indian IAU National Outreach Coordinator (IAU NOC). The national committee is organising this competition in association with the ASI.
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After much thought I have decided that the following names.
Planet 1 – Jai Shiri Ram
The Star – Vande Mataram
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Alternative runner up
Shri Narendra Modi
Shri Amit Shah
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Alternative runner up
Baba Ram Dev
Pragya Thakur
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Alternative runner up
Savakar
Golwalker
Hope this helps
They are asking for planets, not stars.