Name An Alien Planet: Voters Wanted To Christen Strange New Worlds

Name Your Own Alien Planet
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From 2015 you'll finally be able to name your own planet, ending a policy that has resulted in some of our most fascinating discoveries being titled 'Gliese 581 g'.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the organisation which has the unenviable task of creating a name for every planet, every star and every floating rock that's discovered in space.

Well, as of next year they'll be handing over the reigns to the general public with a hand-picked selection of 305 worlds up for christening.

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The IAU explains that 'these exoplanets belong to 260 exoplanetary systems comprising one to five members, in addition to their host star.'

Proposals for the names will be submitted December 2014 by astronomy clubs and nonprofits then in March 2015, the finalised names will be ranked by members of the public.

The chosen names will then be announced in August 2015 so you've got a while to start preparing before hitting the vote button for 'Vulcan' and 'Tatooine'.