this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2023
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Actually as weird as those names look, they all make sense..
I hate when people say stuff like this and then never elaborate why.
The name HD 189733 b is derived from the naming convention used for astronomical objects. Let's break it down:
Therefore, HD 189733 b signifies the first planet discovered orbiting the star HD 189733. This naming convention allows astronomers and researchers to identify and differentiate between different planets and their host stars in a systematic manner.
TOI 849 b is TESS Object of Interest's 849th discovery of interest. The numbers are essentially arbitrary outside of that numbers before them have already been taken.
There are an estimated 400 billion stars in the milky way galaxy and an estimated 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. It would not be reasonable or even possible to give every star a unique alphabetical name even for all the known languages in history.