Name Game
In the July/August issue, Adam Hadhazy’s article “What’s in a Name?” inspired readers to voice their opinions about the right way to name exoplanets. Why, oh why, do people insist on “fixing” something that isn’t broken? The current system used to identify exoplanets is simple and easy to understand. By applying various names to every planet discovered, all that will be created is mass confusion. For me, an amateur astronomer who enjoys viewing the given exoplanets’ host stars, searching out extrasolar planet HD209458 b’s host star, HD209458, for example, is simple and fast. Trying to remember a name like Osiris, on the other hand?!
Robert Morgan
Carson City, NV
I enjoyed the story on naming planets. My career was in the biological sciences where there is a similar problem: Latin…