How did celestial bodies get their names?

As a host of the popular podcast Radiolab, Latif NasserHe was putting his son to bed when he saw something unusual on a poster in the nursery. An illustration of the solar system is shown next to Venus object called “Zusvi“, as if it were his moon. Nasser had never heard of this before. Furthermore, Venus has no moons at all.

His search for the object eventually led Nasser to the asteroid.2002 AH“, named after the year of its discovery and the abbreviation of the planet that accompanies it. It is the first discovery ever Semi-satellites. The asteroid has approximately the same orbit around the Sun as Venus. That's why it accompanies the planet, but it's not a moon.

poster artist, Alex Foster, he wrote it down in his list of things to include on the poster. But the Briton could no longer read his handwriting, and “2002VE” became “Zoozve.” Nasser did not discover this until after involving many people in the search for the origin of the name, including NASA astronomers and the discoverer of 2002VE. Through reports on his podcast, millions of people have joined the search. The crowning achievement was… Official renaming Of the desired asteroid.

Clear naming rules

To name objects such as asteroids, stars, and dwarf planets International Astronomical Union (IAU) responsible. 12,753 astronomers Out of place 92 countries They are currently members there. The International Astronomical Union has naming rules for each type of celestial body. Smaller objects, e.g CometsFor example, obtaining an identifier about its species and the period of its discovery.

Additionally, they are named after one or more explorers, such as “Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)“. the “C“means ‘non-periodic’ followed by the year of discovery.”Hey“refers to the second half of July,”1“For the first organism discovered during this time.

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“2002VE” is an automatically assigned name that remained because the discoverer did not submit its own suggestion. Given the strange story, the International Astronomical Union exceptionally agreed to officially rename the object “Zoozve.”

Planet Sissy orbits Franz.

Exoplanets are often named in reference to the star they orbit. This is the name of the planet that orbits the star.51 Pegasi“circles”,51 Pegasi b“. As part of a campaign to mark the centenary of the International Astronomical Union, countries were allowed to submit suggestions for planetary names and IAU members voted on them. Austria intended”Hat-P-14 b“on name”Sisi“Its central star.”HAT-P-14” had become Christened “Franz”.

Also in our country Solar System Objects are still called. 3 newly discovered Moons Neptune and Uranus still have tentative names like “S/2021 N1,” but that will change: they will become moons of Uranus Shakespeare's plays His name (eg “Titana”) and Neptune Fashion after Greek sea goddess (eg “Triton”).

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The IAU also maintains several Catalogs. Because celestial bodies have many names that people from all cultures have given them over thousands of years. “star”Sirius“aka”Human Resources 2491” after Bright Star Catalog“,”HD48915” after Henry Draper Catalog or “Alpha Canis Majoris” after Bayer label a favour.

Business with the stars

Some companies have made star names for their businesses. For the first time, purchasing and naming a star seems like the perfect gift for astronomy lovers. Just 40 euros You select an available star, give it a name and get access certificateThe company confirms that the star now bears the name “Mitchie Mausi” or “Susan Schatzi”. He also promised that the name would be the same Official names database has been entered.

If you think about these shows, it quickly becomes clear that something is wrong here. For this reason, the International Astronomical Union warns against such displays. Only the International Astronomical Union can name a star, and that's what it has to itself Strict requirements imposed. For this reason, the Union distances itself from this Commercial offers He stresses that you can't buy the night sky. The “official databases” used by providers for advertising are self-operated and have no scientific significance. So you can simply issue a “Star Baptism Certificate” yourself.