The International Astronomical Union hasannounced todaythe winners of the NameExoWorlds competition , the first ever prescribed endeavor to give names to new worlds . The contest was opened to the universal publicin August , and now 14 star and 31 exoplanets have an prescribed name that can be used beyond their be scientific nomenclature .
A complete list of the name calling , include the voting statistic , has been print on the IAUNameExoWorlds site . The winners include intimate names like Copernicus and Galileo , alongside the slightly less known Hypatia and Intercrus .
The competition show a straight international involvement in astronomy , with a total of 573,242 votes cast from all over the world . In total , they voted on 274 namesproposedby 45 unlike uranology chemical group , including observatory , schools , universities , and amateur astronomers .
Successful entries were received from across the globe : six from Asia - Pacific ( Australia , Japan , Thailand ) , four from North America ( U.S. , Canada ) , one from Latin America and the Caribbean ( Mexico ) , two from the Middle East & Africa ( Morocco , Syria ) , and six from Europe ( France , Italy , Netherlands , Spain , Switzerland ) .
The succeed name show this intercontinental spirit : The names come from a variety of mythologies and folklore ( Norse , Thai , Greek , Japanese , Celtic , Aztec ) , Latin words , historical locations , astronomers , and fancied characters .
This is the first time exoplanets have been officially cite , as well as the first prison term in centuries to give popular names to stars . And do n’t vex if you missed the chance this time around . The IAU design to coordinate a novel competition for at least one other object – tau Boötis , which was in the beginning part of this group . After extensive deliberation , the IAU declare its name invalid as the achiever did n’t conform to the IAU rule .
The name of all the other winner were validated by the IAU , although some required limiting due to thestrict guidelinesfor bring up new astronomical object . All the alteration were made in correspondence with the teams who originally aim the name .
