19 Sep NameExoWorlds Competition 2022

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO), the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is launching a contest to name 20 exoplanetary systems that will be observed by JWST.

Anyone, including students and teachers, astronomy enthusiasts, amateur astronomers and exoplanetary scientists, may form a team to take part. Each team is required to conduct an astronomy outreach event related to exoplanets. They then need to choose a system from the listed 20 ExoWorlds, propose a name for the exoplanet and its host star, and provide an explanation of the cultural context.

Would you like to join the SAAO  #NameExoWorlds2022 team?

The SAAO is forming a team to enter the competition. Our outreach event will be the exoplanet-themed Open Night on 8 October, with a talk presented by Rudi Kuhn. If members of staff at the SAAO or social media followers would like to join our team, please submit your name suggestions to us. You may contact us via our social media channels, or send a mail to: enquiries@saao.ac.za (please put “ExoWorlds Entry” in the subject line). We will set up a poll and you will be able to vote for your favourite name. We will then submit the winner to the IAU.

If you would like to form your own team, more details of how to enter can be found here.