Results: Naming a Planet
Published on 08/18/2022
Anyone can name a star online, but the International Astronomical Union is offering a rare space opportunity: to name a planet discovered by the groundbreaking James Webb Telescope.-USA Today
QUESTIONS
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Comments
1.
1.
The IAU is responsible for naming everything in space, from constellations, comets and what lies outside our solar system. Have you ever wondered how or why celestial objects get named?
Yes
40%
1120 votes
No
60%
1680 votes
2.
2.
Twenty planet names are up for grabs, all of which are exoplanets, meaning they are outside our solar system. Scientists discovered the first exoplanets in the 1990s, and as of 2022, there are just over 5,000 confirmed exoplanets outside our solar system. Do you think there is life on any of these planets? Yes, and they are more intelligent than us
16%
449 votes
Yes, and they are less intelligent than us
3%
95 votes
Yes but not sure about their intelligence levels
23%
649 votes
No
24%
666 votes
Undecided
34%
941 votes
3.
3.
Have you ever bought and named a star online? Yes
6%
181 votes
No
94%
2619 votes
4.
4.
You can't just name the planet or star after your child, spouse or pet. The proposed names "should be of things, people, or places of long-standing cultural, historical, or geographical significance, worthy of being assigned to a celestial object." If you had to name a planet with these conditions, do you know what you would name it? Comment below! Yes
15%
417 votes
No
85%
2383 votes
COMMENTS