Uwingu Invites the Public to Submit Names for Planets Around Far Away Stars

Feb. 27, 2013 - PRLog -- Creates a Planet Names Database for Scientists to Use—

Funding Space Research and Education via the Proceeds

Space start up Uwingu™ announced today the launch of its fully commercial website at http://www.uwingu.com. The site allows the public to enter names for planets around other stars into a database that astronomers and others can select from to name far away planets. Much of the proceeds from these name nominations will be used generate a source of grants to fund space exploration, research, and education—called The Uwingu Fund.

“Astronomers have estimated that our galaxy—the Milky Way—harbors 160 billion or more planets. That’s more than 20 planets for every living person on Earth,” says astronomer and Uwingu CEO Dr. Alan Stern. He added, “This is a first step in democratizing planet naming. And it’s a new way for the people of Earth, of every age, of every nation, of every walk of life to personally connect to space discoveries. Never before Uwingu was it possible for everyday people to get involved in planet naming.”

People can nominate “exoplanet” names for their favorite town, state, or country, their favorite sports team, music artist, or hero, their favorite author or book, school, their company, for their loved ones and friends, or even for themselves.

Individual Uwingu planet name nominations cost $4.99; there is no limit on the number of nominations a person or entity can sponsor. Uwingu makes volume discounts available to purchasers of blocks of names.
   Leading planet hunter, astronomer Dr. Geoff Marcy of the University of California at Berkeley added, "The myriad planets being discovered across the galaxy are a tribute to our natural human desire to explore beyond the horizon. Now people all over the world can participate in these discoveries in a new way, giving identities and even personality to billions of planets in our galaxy for the first time. I‘m excited, and hope you will be too. Try it and see, at www.uwingu.com“

About Uwingu: Uwingu (which means “sky” in Swahili, and is pronounced “oo-wing-oo”) was formed by a team of leading astronomers, planetary scientists, former space program executives, and educators. The company includes space historian and author Andrew Chaikin, space educator Dr. Emily CoBabe-Ammann, citizen science leader Dr. Pamela Gay, author and former museum science director Dr. David Grinspoon, planet hunter Dr. Geoff Marcy, planetary scientist and aerospace executive Dr. Teresa Segura, planetary scientist and former NASA science boss Dr. Alan Stern, and planetary scientist and CEO of the Planetary Science Institute, Dr. Mark Sykes, former Executive Director of the Planetary Society Dr. Louis Friedman, and space artists Jon Lomberg and Dan Durda. In September, Uwingu successfully concluded one of the 25 largest Indiegogo crowd-funding campaigns ever to launch an ongoing series of public engagement projects. Visit Uwingu’s web site at www.uwingu.com to learn more.

For more information, contact Dr. Alan Stern at stern@uwingu.com, or at 970-281-SKY1. Follow Uwingu on Twitter at UwinguSky; and friend Uwingu on Facebook.