PSR B1620-26 B - Name

Name

While the designation PSR B1620-26 b is not used in any scientific papers, the planet is listed in the SIMBAD database as PSR B1620-26 b. Some popular sources use the designation PSR B1620-26 c to refer to the planet, presumably under the logic that since the A and B designations are used for the two stars it orbits, the planetary designations should start at "c". This usage is not supported in the scientific literature, nor does this designation appear in the SIMBAD database. As of November 2008, the only other known circumbinary planets orbit the eclipsing binary HW Virginis, however the discovery paper in that case also refrains from assigning designations to the planets, thus the matter remains unresolved.

Though not officially recognized, the name "Methuselah" is commonly used for the planet in popular articles. The name comes from the biblical person Methuselah (who was the oldest living person). This name is usually used as the informal name to show the similarities to the planets of the solar system, while the "latter name" is used astronomically. Methuselah is the only planet to have received a biblical name, although two additional extrasolar planets have been given mythological names (just like in the solar system), those planets being Bellerophon and Osiris. PSR B1620-26 b is one of the oldest planets in the universe, at approximately 12.7 billion years old. It has been undergoing many stages through its lifetime.