Planet

Key Highlights IAU recently named an asteroid after Indian classical singer Pandit Jasraj Planets and asteroids can be named after people by following a specific process

Over the last few decades, modern astronomy has helped the human race expand its horizons by helping it find thousands of planets and asteroids. While finding new celestial bodies is a thrilling experience, one that reveals new mysteries and about the universe, it also poses a different kind of conundrum: of naming them!

One such conundrum, however, worked out well in India's favour when International Astronomical Union (IAU) named an asteroid after Indian classical singer Pandit Jasraj. This asteroid, also previously known as minor planet, was discovered in 2006 and is located between Mars and Jupiter.

The discovery of this asteroid was made on November 11, 2006, by the Catalina Sky Survey based in the state of Arizona in the United States. While great news for India, this isn't the first time an asteroid or for that matter planets have been named after celebrities. Which leads us to the question: how do these celestial bodies get their names?

As it stands, there is a proper process through which celestial bodies such as planets and asteroids get their names. However, the process for both is slightly different.

Asteroids

When an asteroid is first discovered, it is given a provisional name that is eight-characters long. Of this, the first four digits refer to the year that the asteroid was discovered, while the last four characters talk about when in the year it was discovered.

Post this, once the scientists determine the asteroid's precise orbit, it is also issued an official sequential number. While all asteroids are given these provisional names, not all get proper names. This is because the privilege of naming an asteroid is first given to discoverers, who have 10 years to propose a name for it.

For this, the discoverer of the asteroid can approach the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to give the asteroid a formal name. The name, however, has to be proposed in accordance with the established rules to guide the selection of names for objects located in different parts of the solar system.

These are:

The proposed name should not be more than 16-characters long

It should preferably be a single word

It should be pronounceable (in some language)

Has to be written using Latin characters

It should be non-offensive

Cannot be identical or similar to an existing name of a minor planet or asteroid

Planets

The process of getting a planet named is quite different from naming an asteroid.

While planets within our solar system have already gotten names, new exoplanets are usually named after the stars that they revolve around. But in case they don't get a name that's derived from their parent star, they usually get one that's derived from names based in mythology.

But once in a while, the IAU also opens up the process to the public and conducts a public vote to decide on a name. But naming of exoplanets is still very rare, with the first one only being found in 1992.