REAL LIFE NEWS: SO LONG, ALPHA CENTAURI
by Hazed
The International Astronomical Union has decided to standardise the names given to stars. Many stars go by more than one name, with variations in spelling, which can cause confusion. To simplify and clarify the situation, they’ve decided which of the names should be the official one.
For example, the star commonly known as Fomalhaut has at least 30 different names. Spelling variations over the years have included Fumalhaut, Fomalhut and even the unusual Fomal’gaut.
This all sounds very sensible, but it’s had one shocking consequence: Alpha Centauri has been renamed. It is now officially called Rigil Kentaurus.
What?
Apparently, that is the ancient name for the binary star, 4.35 light-years from our sun. Maybe so, but it’s going to make a whole lot of science fiction books obsolete.
Source: http://www.space.com/34835-alpha-centauri-new-star-names.html
