The International Astronomical Union is the only OFFICIAL agency which names stars and other celestial objects. There are standardized rules for how objects get their names. None of these …

The IAU recognizes that astronomy is an old science and many of its names come from long-standing traditions and/or are founded in history. For many of the names of the objects in the …

Neptune was discovered by John Couch Adams in 1846. Adams was an English astronomer and mathematician who, at the age of 24, was the first person to predict the position of a planetary …

Moonlight Madness The of the Moon around the Earth causes the Moon to appear to change shape in the sky. These apparently different shapes are called "phases" of the Moon. The …

Herschel did not name the planet Uranus, he called it "the Georgium Sidus" (the Georgian Planet) in honor of King George III of England. The name "Uranus" was first proposed by German …

Return to the StarChild Main Page Go to Imagine the Universe! (A site for ages 14 and up.)

This name, which means star-like emitters of , was given in the 1960s when quasars were first detected. The name is retained today, even though astronomers now know most quasars are …

The universe is a vast expanse of space which contains all of the matter and energy in existence. The universe contains all of the galaxies, stars, and planets. The exact size of the universe is …

Eris, the largest known dwarf planet, was first detected in data collected in October of 2003. It was not identified until January of 2005. Mike Brown and his team of astronomers discovered what …

Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. Mercury is about the same size as our Moon. It is very close to the Sun. Mercury travels around the Sun faster than any other planet. That is …