This year, over 100 exoplanets and host stars received new names chosen by individuals and institutions through public voting carried out in each country and recognized by The International Astronomical Union(IAU). The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 13 500 professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation.
The IAU also serves as the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world’s largest professional body for astronomers.
To mark the 100th Anniversary of IAU’s establishment, the NameExoWorlds campaign was launched in more than 112 countries and open to the public. This is only the second time that the public has helped pick proper names for exoplanets. More than 780,000 people participated in the competition. Proposed names were to be submitted, vetted by a committee and the shortlisted names voted on by the public.
The exoplanet designated to Ghana for naming was HD 181720 b (Coordinates: 19h 22m 52.9859s, −32° 55′ 08.595’), an extrasolar planet which orbits the G-type main sequence star HD 181720, located approximately 190 light years away in the constellation Sagittarius. This planet has at least three-eighths the mass of Jupiter and takes over two and five-eighths years to orbit the star. This planet was detected by HARPS on October 19, 2009, together with 29 other planets.
Andrews Mawuli Dzodzomenyo, a Ghanaian, submitted the names ‘Sika’ and ‘Togé’ which won the competition for the Ghanaian chapter. His winning names ‘Sika’ means gold and ‘Togé’ means earring in the Eʋe language. According to Andrews, Sika and Toge relate as a material and finished product. Gold is one of Ghana’s principal exports and golden artifacts, jewelry and of great cultural and economic significance in the country.
Modern-day Ghana was previously known as the “Gold Coast” prior to colonial independence due to the abundance of gold nuggets on the land when European explorers landed on its shores. According to Andrews, these names fitted well since planets are formed from the leftover material from which stars form just as earrings are made from gold.
He further expanded on that most electronics in telescopes used to observe and make discovery these other worlds contain gold, of which Ghana is a major exporter.
Andrews is an aspiring Astronomer. He is very passionate about astronomy, the universe and STEM. He is a past product of the Royal Society UK/DARA training program in Ghana and an affiliate of the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (GSSTI).
He was a trainee at the Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory and a graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He will begin his masters studies at Northwest University in South Africa where he will be studying how massive are formed.
His social media handles are (twitter & Instagram) – @kojofixit, Facebook – ‘Kojo fixit Andy’.
Eli Noah – African Post Online
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