Public To Vote On Names For Exoplanets 127
An anonymous reader writes In response to the increased interest by the public in astronomy, the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the world authority that names objects in space, is giving the public a chance to name up to 30 planets from a pre-selected group of 305 exoplanets. "Before you get excited about naming HAT-P-7b after your first pet goldfish, it's worth taking a look at the restrictions the IAU places on its minor planet names. The 16 characters or less must be 'pronounceable (in as many languages as possible)' and non-offensive in any language or culture. The names of living persons are verboten, pet names are 'discouraged,' and you can't use a name that is commercial or has political, military, or religious connotations." The proposed names can be submitted by astronomy clubs and non-profit organizations interested in astronomy and votes will be cast by the public from across the world.
Re:Smart move... (Score:5, Interesting)
IAU authority (Score:2, Interesting)
Before the whiners comes to explain us IAU has no more authority to name astral bodies than anyone else.
If you're in the US: the IAU authority comes from the National Academies joining the IAU. The National Academies got its authority from the US president in 1963 when he signed the Act of Incorporation which created the National Academies.
Always a con (Score:4, Interesting)
Rename all the planets... (Score:5, Interesting)
Under this criteria, not a single planet (or former planet) in this solar system should keep its name, as pretty much all of them run the risk of offending someone who prays to a different diety than the ones that the ancient Romans and Greeks did. Hell, while they're at it, they might as well go through all the astronomical catalogs and weed out all these pesky offensive "religious" names, because they're all over the place. It's pathetic how far people will go these days to attempt to not "offend" even a fly...