if you discovered your own planet like real close to earth and in the future were we made teleportation thingy and the planet was livable on like air water trees and the rest of it



what would you call it




mines bob

You wouldn't get to call it anything. The International Astronomical Union gets to name celestial objects. The only time you get to name something is if you find an asteroid, and even then it must meet with IAU approval.

Pfft. Way to blow a topic, Waspie.

If you ask a question in a science forum, you should expect to get a science based answer.

Absolutely! Nothing quite like crushing he who is a threat to the good name of science by exercising hegemony.

I’m with you every step of the way, man!

Pfft! I would rebel against the IAU and get a load of hippies to tie themselves to the telescopes...

I opt for the name of Gaia, because it sounds cool

The IAU needs to get it's act together on this. At the moment it doesn't name exoplants, considering it impractical. Hence the planets get a designation based on a letter and the name of the star... boring. I suspect that they may keep it this way. There are already 264 planets with no name out there, and the list grows longer weekly. Names are great but not helpful. For example a planet called Bob or Gaia would not tell you where to find that planet.

The very best we can hope for is keeping the designation system and adding a name, hence we might have something like Tau Ceti c - Bob or PSR 1829-10 e -Gaia. Doesn't have much of a ring to it does it?

No he is just telling how it is..... he is just telling the truth....Waspie is correct.


Yes I agree, names are not very beneficial at all, but woudn't they be helpful if they consisted of some kind of code, like new found moons of the gas giants, wich consist of a code that says it's date of dicovery, planet it is orbiting and......... hmmm.....here's a quick example: S/2003 J 19
Of course this is not a real name...

Well maybe the new found planets consist of a similar code and are not considered names..... but I'm not sure about that..... would like to know.

Sooo...... it consists number...
hmm, I want a planet name that tells my birthday then

Actually the planet designation is a lower case letter, starting with "b", in the order they are discovered So the first planet found around the star Gliese 581 was Gliese 581 b and the second Gliese 581 c.

that is insane, if you find a planet the finder should be able to name it, I mean really!

I would name it Pericles, in honor of the leader of Greece`s golden age.

, we need to protest!

Why?

There are 100,000,000,000 stars in our galaxy. If planetary systems are common the number of planets in the the our galaxy could easily exceed that number. We have discovered over 260 in just 16 years, with new telescope, satellites and techniques coming on line that number is set to multiply hugely. What is needed is a logical, scientific method of cataloguing them.

Just calling them by some random name chosen on a whim.. now that would be insane.

and I think that naming them by numbers is much better than a name. it would prevent duplication of names, the planets would be easier to locate, etc.

yeh but if you found something news worthy you do not want a random set of numbers you want a name name, instead of hd121212 because the sun "tom" sounds better than the sun "hd121212", something of worth needs a real name, some random unimportant asteroid should just be a number, a new potential habitable planet deserves a name (that is why I prefer a real name (like Sweed) instead of Gliese 581c.

So your argument has nothing to do with, science, logic, convenience or rational arguments but boils down to "because it sounds better"? Sorry my friend, astronomy is a science and I think you will find that scientists tens to weigh logic, conveince and rational arguments slightly higher than sounding good on the news. Personally I hope that continues. We have enough spin on TV from politicians without the scientists doing it too.

Hey, I want to name my planet "Bob", as well!! And who else has watched Titan A.E.? hehehehe Bob is a kewl name!!

no I mean things of worth need a "real" name not a number, and the name sounding cool is just a bonus.

Either way you can be sure that if a significant planet called "PSR 1829-10 e -Gaia" got put on the news people are going to shorten the name to Gaia anyways. Even if it were called just "PSR 1829-10", chances are it would still get called Bob or something to that extent. If scientists want to give planets long and complicated names go ahead and let them. Who calls a bald eagle a "Haliaeetus leucocephalus." Just make sure you get on lots of talk shows and keep refering to your planet as "Gaia."

Let's see...if I had a planet I would name it, or him...Ioticlon...after absolutely nothing at all.

Well I'd name a planet Alterana. Why? Cuz I just think it sounds cool.