News Releases

Two Days Left to Choose T&T Exoplanet and Star Names

For Release Upon Receipt - November 8, 2019

St. Augustine


There are just two days left for Trinidad and Tobago to vote for the official names of its exoplanet and host star. Public voting for the International Astronomical Union (IAU) NameExoWorlds Trinidad and Tobago Competition opened on October 30, 2019 and ends on Sunday, November 10, 2019.

Dr Shirin Haque, Senior Lecturer in Astronomy at the UWI St. Augustine Campus and National Outreach Coordinator, IAU has been spearheading the local leg of this programme which allows countries around the world to name a host star and its exoplanet.

“Trinidad and Tobago has a once in a lifetime opportunity to sink its flag in the far reaches of the galaxy,” said an enthusiastic Professor Brian Copeland, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of The UWI St. Augustine Campus.  “This is an opportunity that existed in the mind of only a few until The UWI’s Dr Shirin Haque and her team made a strong bid to the International Astronomical Union for Trinidad and Tobago to be given naming rights to the star HD 96063 and one of its planets HD96063B in the Leo constellation.  The UWI is pleased to present this opportunity to the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and looks forward to a healthy round of voting towards the final selection,” added Professor Copeland.

The IAU is the largest astronomical society of professional astronomers in the world. In 2019, it is celebrating its 100th anniversary with several events during the year. “Name Exoworlds” is one such initiative. The competition is to name a designated system of the host star and its exoplanet, jointly called “exoworld”. This name will become its official name apart from its scientific designation.

Persons can vote online by visiting https://www.nameexoworldstt.com/. The final decision will be announced by the IAU in December 2019.

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Notes to Editor

·         Please find attached photographs of Dr Shirin Haque, Senior Lecturer in Astronomy at the UWI St. Augustine Campus and National Outreach Coordinator, IAU and Professor Brian Copeland, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, The UWI St. Augustine Campus

·         UWI Today Article by Dr Shirin Haque: A Star and Exoplanet with a Trinbago Name? Yes Indeed! https://sta.uwi.edu/uwitoday/article8.asp

·       The exoworld system assigned to Trinidad and Tobago is HD 96063 (host star) and HD 96063b (exoplanet). The system is 515 light years away. The star HD 96063 is a yellow, giant star located in the Leo constellation. While it cannot be seen with the naked eye, it is easily visible using small telescopes and binoculars. HD 96063 is as massive as our Sun; however, it is almost four times larger in size and has an effective temperature of 5308 K (Kelvin, the base unit of temperature in the International System of Units). Calculated to be twice as old as our sun at 9 Billion years, HD 96063 has at least one extrasolar planet in orbit around it – exoplanet HD 96063b.

·         Video: NameExoWorlds Competition to immortalise Trinidad and Tobago among the stars! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cavn6Ot4Rqk

 

About The UWI

For more than 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students across five campuses: Cave Hill in Barbados; Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda; Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago; and an Open Campus. Times Higher Education has ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018 and 2019. The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists.

As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); The UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

 (Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of “The”)

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