The Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) of the International Astronomical Union established a new catalogue of IAU star names, with the first set of 227 approved names published on the IAU website.
“Since the IAU is already adopting names for exoplanets and their host stars, it has been seen as necessary to catalogue the names for stars in common use from the past, and to clarify which ones will be official from now on,” the chair and organiser of the WGSN, Eric Mamajek, said.
Among the names formally approved by the WGSN are Proxima Centauri (for the nearest star to the Sun and host star of the nearest known exoplanet), Rigil Kentaurus (the ancient name for Alpha Centauri). Among the stars with newly approved names that have recently been reported to host extrasolar planet candidates are: Algieba (Gamma1 Leonis), Hamal (Alpha Arietis), and Muscida (Omicron Ursae Majoris), Astronomy Now reports.
