Following the National Museum of Natural History's (MNHN) call for school classes to participate in a competition to name an exoplanet and its star, launched by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the public is invited to choose their favourite names from three chosen proposals.
From 1 September to 20 October 2019, school classes in Luxembourg were called as part of the IAU's worldwide campaign to propose names for an exoplanet and its star. Some 100 countries, each with a different star and planet, participated in the campaign, with Luxembourg having the task of naming the HD 45350 star and its planet HD45350b. The star is in the constellation of the Coachman and its discovery was announced in 2004.
Thirteen classes responded to the call and proposed names in the framework of the #NameExoWorlds competition. The steering committee composed of members of the MNHN, amateur astronomers of Luxembourg and experts in the field of space sciences then made a pre-selection according to the rules and naming restrictions used to name the Minor Bodies of the Solar System and adopted by the IAU and the Minor Planet Center.
The three chosen name couple proposals (from a dozen proposals) are: Aluxia and Luxteria, Luxina and Luxigi or Luxilinburhuc and Peitruss. The final choice now belongs to visitors at the 2019 Science Festival who can vote from 7-10 November 2019 for their favourite names.
In order for the final names to be chosen solely on the basis of their relevance or appeal to voters, the names of the teacher and their class are not indicated in the proposals. These will be made public after the final vote.
