One star has been named Kosjenka, and one exoplanet has been named Regoč as part of the international contest ‘Name the exoworlds 2022’, in which almost 12 million people around the world participated, the Zagreb-based Ruđer Bošković Institute (IRB) announced.
The name Kosjenka was given to the star WASP-63, yellow in color and similar in mass to the Sun, but almost twice as old, while the name Regoč went to the exoplanet WASP-63 B, which is most similar in mass to the planet Saturn in the Solar System.
They were named after characters from the fairy tale of the Croatian writer Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić.
The competition received 603 applications from 91 countries around the world, and more than 8,800 people participated in the nomination teams.
The Croatian team for naming stars and exoplanets was coordinated by Lana Ceraj from the Ruđer Bošković Institute, who said that the goal of this international competition was to engage the public.
As part of the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Name an Exoworlds 2022 competition, 20 pairs of names were selected for 20 exoplanet systems and their parent stars.
The competition was organized as part of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Office for the Popularization of Astronomy of the IAU.
