Exo-Planet Designations

[Chimera]

So how come in all our Science Fiction and Literature, we've been naming planets as;

Sol III (Earth)
Omicron Perseid 8
Ceti Alpha 5

And yet, in our current exo-planet research, they're naming them 'B' through whatever?

Oh, I know that wiki page says numbering is impractical because future discoveries might require them to change, but it's not much different with the lettering system.

You guys are pissing on my Scifi! I demand Omicron Perseid 8!

[Colibri]

Since this seems to be more about naming conventions in sci-fi rather than a question about astronomy, let's move this over to Cafe Society.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

[Tim R. Mortiss]

Not all science fiction follows that convention. In Jack Vance's universe, there is the famous Rigel Concourse:

The Rigel Concourse: a system of 26 planets orbiting Rigel, which were moved into the system in antiquity by a vanished alien race. Their pompous discoverer named them for figures of Victorian literature (such as Bulwer-Lytton and Rudyard Kipling); but the clerk who processed his transmission, Roger Pilgham, replaced the names with a fanciful series of his own devising: Alphanor, Barleycorn, Chrysanthe, Diogenes, Elfland, Fiame, Goshen, Hardacres, Image, Jezebel, Krokinole, Lyonesse, Madagascar, Nowhere, Olliphane, Pilgham (after himself), Quinine, Raratonga, Somewhere, Tantamount, Unicorn, Valisande, Walpurgis, Xion, Ys and Zacaranda. Pligham also gave a particularly ugly moon the name "Sir Julian" in honor to the discoverer of the entire system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_P...f_the_Oikumene