Star named after Indian scientist, exoplanet gets a Sanskrit name

Bibha’s exoplanet was christened Santamasa, a Sanskrit word that means “clouded”, which refers to the nature of the exoplanet’s atmosphere.

A yellow-white dwarf star in the constellation Sextans, located 340 light years away, was on Tuesday named Bibha, which means “a light beam” and refers to Bibha Chowdhuri, a pioneering Indian scientist who was the first woman researcher-faculty at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1949.

The names of the two astronomical bodies were announced by the Paris-based International Astronomical Union (IAU) along with the names of 111 sets of exoplanets and host stars. (Reuters/ Representative Image)

Bibha’s exoplanet was christened Santamasa, a Sanskrit word that means “clouded”, which refers to the nature of the exoplanet’s atmosphere. US space agency Nasa defines exoplanets as planets that orbit around stars outside our solar system.

The names of the two astronomical bodies were announced by the Paris-based International Astronomical Union (IAU) along with the names of 111 sets of exoplanets and host stars.

Bibha and Santamasa symbolise what the physical and lighting conditions of the HD 86081 system could be, according to astrophysicists.

Chowdhuri, referred by the scientific community as an unsung Indian physicist, was one of the earliest particle and cosmic ray physicists in India. “Dr Bibha Chowdhuri discovered a new subatomic particle, the pi-meson, from experiments in Darjeeling, with her mentor DM Bose, and published her results in (journal) Nature, but did not get due recognition. Somebody else got the Nobel prize for a later discovery,” said Somak Raychaudhury, director, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, who was also a member of the national committee that sent the final recommendations to IAU.

Earlier this year, IAU, which is celebrating 100 years of its existence, threw open IAU100 NameExoWorlds campaigns assigning various countries with the task of naming a star and its exoplanet.

India was allotted star HD 86081 and its exoplanet HD 86081b. Ananyo Bhattacharya, 20, student at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, proposed the winning name Bibha for star HD 86081. Exoplanet HD 86081b Santamasa was proposed by 13-year-old Vidyasagar Daud from Singhad Spring Dale Public School.

The star HD 86081 is slightly hotter, larger and older than our Sun. About 20% bigger and more massive than our Sun, it is visible via binoculars and small telescopes.

Scientists said seeing exoplanet 86081b, which is composed entirely of gas, is, however, not as easy. Discovered on April 17, 2006, the exoplanet is a giant planet and appears to be similar to the planet Jupiter in size and mass, but is unlike Jupiter, which is cold.