Or perhaps you would like to name it "Tatooine" or "Wrigley's Pleasure Planet"? If so, you are in luck--all you need to pay a small fee and keep voting. A startup company called Uwingu is holding a "people's choice contest" to pick a name for the nearest planet outside our solar system. It orbits Alpha Centauri B, an orange star located just 4.3 light years from Earth, and currently has the ungainly name Alpha Centauri Bb. For $4.99 you can propose a name of your own, and for $0.99 you can vote on the winner. The contest runs until April 22; there is also a broader, ongoing campaign for other alien worlds.
Illustration of the Earth-size planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B, part of the closest star system to home. The planet is currently known only as Alpha Centauri Bb. (Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/Nick Risinger) Uwingu's name-that-planet project has a noble aim. ...
