NAMING EXOPLANETS

Recently, as part of a committee of local astronomy enthusiasts, I was involved with coming up with a proposed name for an Exoplanet.  This committee is made up of members of the Saint John Astronomy Club, including Stephen T, June M, Phil, Ed O'Reilly and myself.

This committee, in conjunction with a program put on by the International Astronomical Union called naming exoplanets, has come up with a name for one Exoplanet, found orbiting the star Errai.  The name that we came up with is WALCAMYA.  Now this name will be placed with others and the public will have the final vote.

Walcamya is taken from the names of Bruce Cambell, Gordon Walker and Sephenson Yang, honoring their efforts in pioneering the science of finding exoplanets.

Walcamyas' Sun, Errai is an easy to find and see star that is circum-polar, which means that is always in the sky, from here in New Brunswick.

Anyone can vote on the names for of certain exoplanets.  The vote is being held from June to July 2015.  If interested go to this link http://www.nameexoworlds.org/#signup  They will pick the names in August 2015!

Here is your chance to be part of something truly historical...naming an exoplanet!

Image of Errai that I took June 17, 2015 while looking for Comet Lovejoy.