THUNDER BAY -- A group of local astronomers is looking to put truth and hope in the stars.
The Thunder Bay chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada has submitted its ideas to an online voting contest that will permanently name stars and exoworlds.
The International Astronomical Union opened the NameExoWorlds contest on Aug. 11.
The group has focused on the Andromedae 14 System, which consists of a single planet revolving around a sun that is visible from Earth with the naked eye.
The local proposal suggests naming the star Veritas, the Greek word for 'truth' and naming the planet Spes, the Greek word for 'hope.'
"If you look at how the planets in our solar system are named, they're named mostly from Greek and Roman mythology," said group member, Maureen Nadin.
"We settled on the whole concept of discovery. The human race is driven by an innate need to explore the world around us and worlds beyond."
In Greek mythology, Andromeda is chained to a rock and fed to a sea monster to punish her mother Cassiopeia for boasting of her daughter's beauty. Perseus' heroism and nobility of character in saving her forms the inspiration for the suggested names.
Nadin is urging local clicktavists to help put Thunder Bay's imprint on the stars.
"There's no money invovled. The real motivation behind this is that it's a tremendous opportunity to be a part of history," she said.
"You're naming a planet."
Voting will continue until the end of October at http://nameexoworlds.iau.org/
