PSR B1257+12 A

Nomenclature

The designation PSR B1257+12 b follows the convention for pulsars, where PSR stands for Pulsating Source of Radio, followed by the pulsar's right ascension and degrees of declination. The B indicates coordinates for the 1950.0 epoch; newer pulsars use J for 2000.0 coordinates with minutes in declination. Pulsars discovered before 1993 often retain their B names. Upon discovery, this planet was called PSR 1257+12 A and later PSR B1257+12 b, as it was found before the standard practice of using the star's name followed by lower-case Roman letters starting from 'b' was established. Astronomical databases such as SIMBAD and the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia list it under the latter convention. In July 2014, the International Astronomical Union launched NameExoWorlds, a process for giving proper names to exoplanets and their host stars. In December 2015, the IAU announced the winning name Draugr, submitted by the Planetarium Südtirol Alto Adige in Karneid, Italy. Draugr are undead creatures in Norse mythology.