HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO NAME A PLANET
Thanks to the amazing James Webb Telescope, orbiting the sun, astronomers have discovered about 5,000 new planets out there.
To celebrate, the International Astronomical Union is giving the people the chance to name 20 of these "new" planets.
While this might sound fun, there are a bunch of rules to follow -- and it sounds like a lot of work.
The IAU is running a contest. They want teams of students, teachers, and lovers of astronomy to propose names "worthy of being assigned to a celestial object." You can't just name the planet or star after your child, spouse, or pet.
And then, the IAU wants you to put together an "outreach event" to teach the public about exoplanets and their significance.
Complete rules for what names are and are not allowed can be seen here.
Teams must also submit their proposal, outreach event, and why it should be chosen in a written prompt, in English, of no more than 300 words, and a video in native languages no longer than three minutes.
Teams have from now until Nov. 11 to submit names. From there, the IAU will work with the National Outreach Coordinator to pick one proposal for countries with multiple submissions. Voting will be done from Dec. 16 to March 16, 2023, and winners will be announced on March 20.
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