New Names

Upsilon Andromedae might not dazzle the eye, but one fact really makes it sparkle: It’s one of the brightest stars in the night sky known to have four or more planets. The star is bigger, brighter, and heavier than the Sun. It has a distant companion star that’s a faint cosmic ember. The two stars are known as Upsilon Andromedae A and B. The planets orbit star A, so they’re known as Upsilon Andromedae A-b, A-c, A-d, and A-e. That’s a neat system for the astronomers who study planets in other star systems — it helps them know just where everything is. For the rest of us, though, the system’s a bit dull. Such names have none of the appeal of Vulcan, Gallifrey, Arrakis, or many other planet names from science fiction. But that’s about to change. The International Astronomical Union is holding a contest to name more than 300 exoplanets, including those of Upsilon Andromedae. Over the next few months, it’ll accept proposals for exoplanet names from astronomy-related groups, such as planetar