Tag: International Astronomical Union

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has announced new names of its newly discovered star and its planet. The star ‘HIP 7943’ was named as “Sharjah” and one of itsplanet (exoplanet) was named as “Barjeel”. The announcement was made during a press conference of IAU in Paris, France during the centenary celebration of the union (IAU). Star Sharjah:Appreciating the achievements of Sharjah, which is the Capital of Arab Culture, Capital of Islamic Culture and also has the name of World Book Capital, the star was named as “Sharjah”. Barjeel meaning:A barjeel is a wind tower that directs the flow of wind, where the air can be recirculated as a form of air conditioning. Barjeel is an exoplanet to Sharjah. Planets orbiting their stars are called exoplanets. About International Astronomical Union(IAU): Fact-IAU is an international association of professional astronomers, active in professional research and education in astronomy. Headquarters-Paris, France. Founded- 28 July 1919

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) named a white yellow star in Sextans Constellation as “Bhibha” and its planet as “Santamasa” Highlights The star has been named Bhibha honoring Indian Woman Scientist Bhibha Choudhury who discovered subatomic particle pi-meson. Bhibha means a bright beam of light in Bengali. The name Santamasa in Sanskrit means clouded. The name is appropriate as the planet’s atmosphere is clouded. The IAU that celebrated its 100thbirth anniversary on July 28, 2019, allowed every country to give a famous name to selected pair of exoplanet and its host star. Bhibha star Bhibha is an ageing star that is 6.2 billion years old and Santamsa is its only planet. The mass of the planet is expected to be 1.5 times as that of Jupiter and is very hot. Santamasa completed its revolution around its star in just about 2.1375 days. Significantly, the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to the discovery of an exoplanet that is orbiting a star similar to that of the sun.