Jan 5, 2022: As per the News Agency - The star is 392.01 light years away from Earth and has been registered in the International Space Registry on December 25, 2022. How does one name a star?
Shirish Boralkar, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Aurangabad, announced on Sunday that the Aurangabad unit had named a star after the recipient of the "Bharat Ratna" on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which was observed as "Good Governance Day" across the nation.
As per News sources, the star is 392.01 light years away from Earth and the nearest to the Sun. "The star with the coordinates 14 05 25.3 -60 28 51.9 has been registered in the International Space Registry on December 25, 2022. The star gets the name Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji. Registration Number CX16408US" read the certificate from the International Space Registry1 (ISR). (Source: The Hindustan Times)
The International Star Registry1 (ISR) is an organization founded in 1979, which sells the right to unofficially name stars, mostly as a gift or memorial.
The names are recorded in the book Your Place in the Cosmos, and are not recognized by the scientific or astronomical community. Customers are given a signed certificate, a booklet of star charts, and a chart identifying the named star.
Whereas, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the only internationally recognized authority for naming celestial bodies.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) was founded in 1919. Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation and has a total membership of 12,441.
Mr. Vajpayee served as prime minister twice, first from May 16, 1996, to June 1, 1996, and then from March 19, 1998, until May 22, 2004.
He additionally served as India's Minister of External Affairs under Prime Minister Moraji Desai's administration from 1977 to 1979. He passed away at the AIIMS hospital in Delhi on August 16, 2018.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that December 25 would be observed as "Good Governance Day" annually after taking office in 2014 as a respect to the previous leader.