Exoplanets continue to inspire October 27, 2009
Posted by sarah in: new astronomy, science , trackback
At a conference last week, a team of astronomers announced the discovery of 32 new exoplanets. This confirms what many already suspected: they’re everywhere! The disoveries were made by European astronomers based around Prof. Michel Mayor‘s group at the Observatory of Geneva, who continue to increase their exoplanet tally since they spotted the first one around a regular star, back in 1995. Their secret? A small telescope with a damn fine instrument, that they themselves built specifically for the job.
The High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Finder, or HARPS, was built by the Geneva-led consortium, for ESO’s 3.6-m telescope at La Silla in Chile. Of the 400 known exoplanets, 75 were discovered using HARPS’ ultra-precise radial velocity method, including nearly all of the lowest mass ones we know.
As definitive evidence that our neighbour planetary systems how have a firm place in our hearts and minds, a paper has appeared on astro-ph outlining a possible naming convention for these planet families. Heidelberg astronomer Wladimir Lyra suggests a scheme based around Greco-Roman mythology – referencing the constellation of the host star rather than the host star itself, as is currently customary.
Stuart reckons we shouldn’t limit ourselves to this specific tradition and just give the planets modern fictional names from all cultures around the world. On the Physics Arxiv blog the authors suggest opening the naming up to schoolkids as a way of getting the public on side. Better start practicing that conference talk in 2015 about planet BobTheBuilder with a straight face!
Current exoplanet naming practices are a bit cumbersome. I don’t know what the deal is precisely but they seem to get names either after the designator of their host star, like HD 73256 b, or after the survey in which they were discovered, e.g. OGLE-TR-113 b. Something a little more intuitive is probably a good idea, although it will be hard to come up with a coherent system for the thousands we are bound to discover in the next couple of decades.
Here are some ideas:
- I would like a system where the name tells you something about the planet – some kind of code. Like, starts with “E” means “Earth-mass”, starts with “N” is “Neptune-mass”, “J” for “Jupiter-mass” etc. Next 2 digits: year discovered. It would have to be specific enough to avoid several planets getting the same name, yet general enough to be easily teachable to amateur astronomers and (high) school kids.
- We divide up the Galaxy into sections (we could have our own Gamma Quadrant!) and each section is allocated to a country, or region, whose community of professional or amateur astronomer can come up with a naming convention. That way the name could instantly give information on the location as well.
- We auction off planets for naming, and use the money towards outreach, student bursaries or more research.
- Exoplanets are named after astronomers of the past. Personally I like the idea that perhaps in 300 years’ time my ticket will come up and an exoplanet will get my name. I bet it would be hot (and ill tempered).
What do you reckon?
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