To kick things off, the IAU has created a list of 305 well-studied exoplanets. Starting in September, astronomy clubs and non-profit organisations will be able to register at a website and between them select 20 to 30 of these worlds to name. Each group will then be allowed to submit a name for one of these exoplanets, following the IAU’s naming rules. Once the suggestions are collected, they will be open to a public vote. The IAU will still have the final say, and will announce the results at its next general assembly in Hawaii in August 2015.

In case you’re wondering, names must be copyright-free, which may rule out calling a planet Alderaan or Westeros, for example. The IAU guidelines say names must be free for public use and “not subject to copyright royalties, as could be the case for names created in fiction works, like books, plays, movies, etc”.

The 305 worlds on the initial list were all discovered before 2009, which means the list excludes all the planets discovered by NASA’s Kepler space telescope. But the list does includes Gliese 581 d, which may not actually exist.

“There are no guarantees that all of the 305 exoplanets in this list will stand the test of time,” says Christensen. “Science changes all the time, and these objects are notoriously hard to detect. So changes to the list at a later stage are not impossible, and possibly Gliese 581 d could be such a case. For now, after careful considerations, it remains on the list although its existence is disputed.”

Exoplanet names will be put to public vote   

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