How do celestial bodies get their names? - World Today Journal (2024)

• March 16, 2024
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© Getty Images/iStockphoto/m-gucci/iStockphoto

16.03.2024

Franziska Bechtold

Astronomers love strict rules when naming planets, stars or asteroids, but sometimes break them for a good story.

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

His search for the object eventually led Nasser to the asteroid “2002 VE“, named after the year of its discovery and the abbreviation for the planet it accompanies. It is the first ever discovered Quasi satellites. The asteroid has almost the same orbit around the sun as Venus. That’s why it accompanies the planet, but is not a moon.

The artist of the poster, Alex Foster, had written it down on a list of objects that should be included on the poster. But the Brit could no longer read his own handwriting and “2002VE” became “Zoozve”. Nasser only found this out after involving numerous people in the search for the origin of the name, including NASA astronomers and the discoverer of “2002VE”. Through the reports in his podcast, millions of people joined in the search. The crowning achievement was a… official renaming of the asteroid requested.

Clear rules for naming

For naming such objects such as asteroids, stars and dwarf planets International Astronomical Union (IAU) responsible. 12,753 Astronomer out of 92 countries are currently members there. The IAU has naming rules for every type of celestial body. Smaller objects, like Cometsfor example, receive an identifier about their type and the period of discovery.

Additionally, they are named after one or more explorers, such as “Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)“. The “C“ stands for “non-periodic” followed by the year of discovery. “O“ stands for the second half of July, “1” for the first object discovered during this time.

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Der Komet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)

© ESO/E. Slawik

“2002VE” is an automatically assigned name that remained because the discoverer did not submit his own suggestion. Due to the curious story, the IAU exceptionally approved officially renaming the object “Zoozve”.

Planet “Sissi” orbits “Franz”

Exoplanets are often named in reference to the star they orbit. That’s the name of the planet that revolves around the star “51 Pegasus“circles, “51 Pegasi b“. As part of a campaign to mark the IAU’s centenary, nations were allowed to submit suggestions for planet names and IAU members voted on them. Austria baptized “HAT-P-14 b” on the name “Sissi“. Its central star “HAT-P-14was christened “Franz”.

The gas giant “Sissi” has a mass of 3.44 Jupiters

© NASA

Also in ours Solar system Objects are still named. 3 newly discovered Monde Neptune and Uranus still have provisional names such as “S/2021 N1”, but that will change: Uranus moons will become Shakespeare plays named (e.g. “Titana”) and Neptune fashion after Greek sea gods (z.B. „Triton“).

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The IAU also maintains various In the catalog. Because celestial bodies have many names that have been given to them over thousands of years by people from all cultures. The star “Sirius” is also known as “HR 2491” after Bright-Star-Katalog„HD 48915” after Henry Draper Catalogue or “Alpha Dog Major” after Bayer designation known.

The business with the stars

Some companies have made star names their business. For the first time, buying and naming a star sounds like an ideal gift for astronomy fans. For only 40 Euro you select an available star, give it a name and get a certificate, on which the company confirms that the star is now called “Michi-Mausi” or “Susanne-Schatzi”. It is also promised that the name will be in one official name database is entered.

If you think about these offers, it quickly becomes clear that something is wrong here. That is why the IAU warns against such offers. Only the IAU can name a star and that’s what it has for itself strict requirements imposed. That is why the Union distances itself from commercial offers and emphasizes that you can’t buy the night sky. The “official databases” that providers use to advertise are operated by themselves and have no scientific significance. You can therefore simply issue a “star christening certificate” yourself.

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