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The IAU's names for exoplanets – and on most occasions their host stars – are chosen by the Executive Committee Working Group (ECWG) on Public Naming of Planets and Planetary Satellites, a group working parallel with the Working Group on Star Names (WGSN). [1] Proper names of stars chosen by the ECWG are explicitly recognised by the WGSN. [1]
Initially, the names given to minor planets followed the same pattern as the other planets: names from Greek or Roman myths, with a preference for female names. With the discovery in 1898 of the first body found to cross the orbit of Mars, a different choice was deemed appropriate, and 433 Eros was chosen.
Astronomical naming conventions § Planets, for the planets of the Solar System; Planetary nomenclature, for features on those planets; Exoplanet naming convention, for planets outside the Solar System; Minor-planet designation, for initial designations of dwarf planets, asteroids etc. Meanings of minor-planet names, for later names of those bodies
Before 2006, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were considered as planets. Below are partial list of these mnemonics: "Men Very Easily Make Jugs Serve Useful Needs, Perhaps" – The structure of this sentence, which is current in the 1950s, suggests that it may have originated before Pluto's discovery.
For exoplanets orbiting a single star, the name is normally formed by taking the name of its parent star and adding a lowercase letter. A provisional IAU-sanctioned standard exists to accommodate the naming of planets that orbit two stars, which are known as circumbinary planets. A limited number of exoplanets have IAU-sanctioned proper names.
Names of mountains and peaks from Middle-earth, the fictional setting in fantasy novels by English author J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973) Planitiae and labyrinthi Names of planets from the Dune series of science fiction novels by American author Frank Herbert (1920–1986) Sinūs Names of terrestrial bays, coves, fjords or other inlets Undae
There are eight planets within the Solar System; planets outside of the solar system are also known as exoplanets. Artist's concept of the potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler-186f As of 14 January 2025, there are 5,819 confirmed exoplanets in 4,346 planetary systems , with 974 systems having more than one planet . [ 1 ]
Only if the planet is intentionally catalogued differently than its parent star (e.g. the star GSC 02652-01324 and its planet TrES-1) should the planet article be named differently. The issue of whether to add a space between the parent star's name and the planetary designation determined by scientific literature references.