IAU announces name of 112 exoplanets and host stars

ANKARA

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced the names of 112 sets of exoplanets and host stars on Tuesday, named after the proposals of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

"Within the framework of the International Astronomical Union's 100th anniversary commemorations (IAU100) in 2019, 112 countries organised national campaigns that stimulated the direct participation of over 780 000 people worldwide, who proposed and selected names for each exoplanet and its host star," IAU said in a press release.

"The project saw massive and widespread participation around the world, as the public eagerly engaged in this exciting opportunity to suggest meaningful, creative and unique names for exoplanet systems for their respective countries," the statement added.

It said that 360,000 proposals for names were received from 112 countries.

"This is the second time in history that a campaign has led to the naming of stars and exoplanets," it added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chairman of the Turkish Astronomical Society Ibrahim Kucuk announced that Turkish people who participated to the naming campaign decided to name star "WASP-52" as "Anadolu" and exoplanet "WASP-52-B" as "Gokturk".

Anadolu is the Turkish name of Anatolia, the peninsula between the Black Sea and Mediterranean upon which Turkey is situated, while Gokturk -- meaning literally Sky Turk -- refers to an early Turkish Khaganate that existed from the sixth to eighth centuries A.D.