Thinking caps on to name an exoplanet
When our daughter was a baby, we came up with alternative lyrics to the nursery rhyme Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. I may have become a parent, but I was still a scientist! Ours is an ode to the Sun:
Twinkle, twinkle, enormous star.
A great big ball of hydrogen gas. Sending out your solar flares,
Giving us energy to make our wares. Twinkle, twinkle, enormous star,
We’re so glad you are what you are.
Unlike all those websites that charge you $50 to ‘‘name’’ a star, this is the real deal.
I find the vastness of space quite mind-boggling. Our Sun is just one of at least 100 billion stars in our galaxy, the beautiful spiral Milky Way.
The exciting news is that this month you have the opportunity to name one of those 100 billion stars, and one of the planets that orbits it.
To celebrate its 100th anniversary, the International Astronomical Union is holding a global competition allowing each of its member states to name an exoplanet – that’s a planet outside of our solar system – and its host star.
Unlike all those websites that charge you $50 to ‘‘name’’ a star, this is the real deal.
The International Astronomical Union is the only internationally recognised authority that is able to assign names to stars, planets, asteroids, and any other celestial bodies.
About 132 light years away from us – more than a 1000 trillion kilometres – is the exoplanet that Aotearoa New Zealand has been assigned.
It’s a gas giant with the official designation HD 137388b and a mass about one-fifth that of Jupiter.
Our exoplanet takes 330 days to orbit an orange dwarf star known as HD 137388, which sits in the Apus constellation.
The good news is that our star is visible from Aotearoa all year long, and you may even be able to spot it with a small telescope.
HD 137388 and HD 137388b aren’t exactly aweinspiring so what would you call them?
Submissions are open online (https://space.auckland.ac.nz/nameexoworlds/) until the end of this month, after which a panel of local judges will pick the name of the star and the planet, and submit them to the union.
Get your thinking caps on!