this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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Jokes aside, I'm sure there is SOME method for how they name what they find; I highly doubt they just use a random number generator. Does anyone here know what that process is?
I'm not a scientist/astronomer but my beste guess would be that stuff is named based on the instrument/telescope that found it first and some number or based on survey project names. There are so many objects we discover, anything "more sophisticated" would probably be too much work. If something turns out interesting later it might get additional names or a nick name.
Cat walking across keyboards at the wrong time of a group chat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_naming_conventions#Modern_catalogues
It's based on their coordinates from earth, but the end result is basically what's in the OP.