Planet Earth
International Astronomical Union WGSN

Welcome to exopla.net 

the exoplanetarium of the Working Group Star Names

Modern star names are given to (faint) host stars of exoplanets. For bright stars historical names from all over the world are collected and applied to stars according to scientific criteria. 

In our exoplanetarium we present:
 * the modern star names and their (hi)stories
 * constellations and their real (hi)stories  
 * some teaching material for the astronomy of exoplanets 

Star Names

Some star names are historically developed, other take from indigenous cultures and some are totally artificial.

Constellations

… 

even if you think you know them, you still can learn something new here.

Blog

Our recorded talks
and public events

Some suggestions for historical experiments.

Latest News



WGSN meets Stellarium

The Working Group Star Names (WGSN) and the Stellarium team met in Jena from 1 to 3 November 2023 to think about ways of managing cultural data together. Astronomy is[…]


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title of talk (screen)


title of talk (First Astronomers)


First Astronomers

2022 Arthur and Hilda Winch Annual Lecture given by Duane Hamacher, PhD


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IAU

at home on planet Earth

… seeking to share knowledge with all humans on this planet.

Some photographs: astronomy on planet Earth

Our world is a beautiful place – we need to take care of it!

Moon Through Telescope

Lunar eclipse, observed at Hildesheim (Europe)

Rainbow above Sahara

Observed in Mauretania (Africa)

Short before Transit of Mercury

northwest Sahara (Africa)

a modern Zeiss planetarium

constellation Orion in the dome