Exoplanets take the name of their star, plus a lowercase letter to distinguish them as their own body. For multi-planet systems, the planets are lettered as they go outward.

Exoplanets are exciting, but they're usually saddled with eye-glazing names like "HD 8574 b" or "HD 17156 b." That's about to change for a whole lot of lucky exoplanets and their host stars.

New Exoplanet Names To Be Announced Next Week. News. By Calla Cofield published 5 August 2015 When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Additionally, the name of the exoplanet and its host star need to follow the same theme, meaning they must be related in some way. Teams cannot submit names of people, pets or organizations.

The first official, publicly chosen exoplanet names will be unveiled today. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) will announce the results of its "Name the Exoworlds" campaign — which ...

Exoplanets don’t have names as you and I normally think about them. Instead of being called things like Apollo, Gandalf, or Vulcan (all astoundingly cool names), exoplanets receive a name ...

"While exoplanet names such as 16 Cygni Bb or HD 41004 Ab may seem boring when considering the names of planets in our own solar system, the vast number of objects in our universe — galaxies ...

Each group will then be allowed to submit a name for one of these exoplanets, following the IAU’s naming rules. Once the suggestions are collected, they will be open to a public vote.

A total of 274 names were proposed for the stars and planets. The IAU said it received 573,242 votes from the public on the names from 182 countries and territories.

Stern described the IAU's position as ironic, since the organization does not currently name exoplanets. The IAU said it would devise an official naming process in 1995, ...

The "Name the Exoworlds" campaign, created by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), gave the public the opportunity to vote on new names for stars and planets in 20 exoplanet systems.