An Indian Scientist Recently Discovered Star Then It Gets A Bengali Name

Indian female scientists have been making outstanding and remarkable contributions. The scope of their research is now even beyond the Earth. Earlier, they had discovered the giant HD 86081 as well as the planet 86081b in the constellation Sextant and were about to put Indian names. Now, after the 'Name ExoWorlds' global contest organized by The International Astronomical Union, the star has officially been named after the Indian physicist Bibha Chowdhury.

The white-yellow HD 86081is expected to be named “Bhibha", whose meaning is the "bright beam of light" in the Bengali language. The star's exoplanet will be named as ‘Santamas', which means" clouded "in Sanskrit, implying the cloudy atmosphere in the exoplanet. "Bhibha" is derived from a proposal of a 20-year-old student Ananya Bhattacharya at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology. 'Santamas' was suggested by Vidyasagar Daud, a student in Sinhgad Spring Dale Public School, who is 13 years old and studying intensively in space.

The star's name has reminded us of the contributions of Bibha Chowdhuri, an unknown scientist who had the effort to detect pi-meson subatomic particles. In the past, Dr. Chowdhuri has supported research on elementary particle physics, as well as cosmic rays, and has worked with renowned scientists like Vikram Sarabhai or Homi Bhabha. This is the first time an Indian name of an individual has been approved to name a star in the star system. 

There have been thousands of proposed names to choose from for the star HD 86081 b, and its exoplanet which resembles Jupiter. For HD 86081 b, some of the shortlisted names were Anahata, Rashmirathi, Bibha, Vibhas, and Suteja. Meanwhile, the exoplanet's name was chosen among Abhrakasin, Santamas, Aleya, Turang, and Taptabrihas. There were over 110 countries that participated in the naming project, and more than 780 thousand people all over the globe took part in to select the relevant names for each star and its exoplanet.

It is known that HD 86081, or Bhabhi, is a star that is similarly hot as the Sun and 1.55 times larger. Santamas, its exoplanet, is 1.5 times heavier than Jupiter which has a 2.1- day orbit.