IAU: No, You Can't Name That Exoplanet 142
astroengine writes "The International Astronomical Union (IAU) — the official body that governs the designations of all celestial bodies — in their capacity of purveyors of all things 'official' has deemed attempts at crowdsourcing names for exoplanets illegitimate. 'In the light of recent events, where the possibility of buying the rights to name exoplanets has been advertised, the International Astronomical Union wishes to inform the public that such schemes have no bearing on the official naming process,' writes Thierry Montmerle, General Secretary of the IAU in Paris, France. Although the 'schemes' are not specifically named, the most popular U.S.-based "exoplanet naming" group Uwingu appears to be the target of today's IAU statement. Set up by Alan Stern, planetary scientist and principal investigator for NASA's Pluto New Horizons mission, Uwingu encourages the public to nominate and vote (for a fee) on names for the slew of exoplanets steadily being discovered."
Probably (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, it does seem like there should be some rigor to the process. I don't want my descendants emigrating to the planet "My Hairy Balls"* because I was drunk and happened to have some spare cash lying around that day.
*although it would, perhaps, be a poetic illustration of the circle of life.
Re: So what (Score:5, Insightful)
Err..light year is a measure of distance but the light we see from something 1000 light years away ... is literally 1000 years old by the time it reaches us.
Err, in astronomical terms a few thousand years is a blip. Would you go around correcting people at work every time they mention "home" to mention: "You don't know if there's is a home. For all you know it could have already burned down before you get back.".
No - it's stupid. Any planet observable with these techniques is close enough that there's such a small chance of it being destroyed by now that its not even worth worrying about.
Re:So what (Score:4, Insightful)
The FARTHEST exoplanetary system we've discovered is around the star NY Virginis which is 26,940 light years away. The majority are much closer than that. The likelihood that any planet that we can see just "doesn't exist" 27,000 years (or less) later is minuscule. That span of time is nothing when it comes to the lifespan of a planet.
Re:So what (Score:4, Insightful)
If that were an actual answer instead of an ass-pull so that they could convince naive people that they didn't fuck up, it would have been in response to Kenobi asking "Is it a maneuverable ship" not "Is it a fast ship?"
You could do the Kessel run in 12 parsecs in a Ford Pinto, it would just take awhile.