Uwingu launches alien planet ‘adoption’ campaign

Following up on it's campaign to find a public name for the planet Alpha Centauri Bb, the Uwingu Fund has started a new campaign that will let people 'adopt' planets around other stars.

The 'Adopt a Planet' campaign started up on Wednesday, May 1st.

For this open-ended program, any name nominated to Uwingu's 'Galactic Exoplanet Baby Book' database will be eligible for adoption if it receives 1,000 votes ("exoplanets" being the name given to planets orbiting other stars). Once a name reaches that milestone, the person who nominated it will be able to chose nearly any planet in the official astronomical databases to receive the name.

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Nominating a name costs $4.99, and voting for a name is $0.99. Votes towards a name can be made by anyone, including the person who nominated it. So, if you have a good name in mind, you can put it up and get all your friends and family to help you out, or if you have an extra $994.99 burning a hole in your pocket, you can do it all yourself.

Adopted planets will end up on a separate list, along with the name of the person who adopted it and the characteristics of the planet. There is already a single entry on this new list — Albertus Alauda, which won the contest to rename Alpha Centauri Bb.

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Just as with Uwingu's previous planet-naming campaign, these names won't have any official clout. They'll simply be public names that people can use instead of the somewhat bulkier and perhaps more dull names that planets are given upon their discovery.

However, unlike other programs for 'adopting' objects in space, the money that goes to Uwingu ultimately ends up contributing to science funding and education. So, not only is this supporting a great cause, but just think how cool it would be to be able to claim that you named a planet orbiting another star. I think I'm going to have to come up with one myself!

(Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

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