Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) on Wednesday named one of the new stars discovered as "Sharjah" and the planet affiliated with this star was named "Barjeel."

The announcement came during the IAU’s conference to celebrate the centenary of the federation in the French capital, Paris.

The International Astronomical Union was established in 1919.

The delegates at the conference enumerated Sharjah's exploits and its clear and evident contributions in the field of science and education.

They appreciated the achievement Sharjah has made in different field which won it the title of the Capital of Arab Culture, the title of the Capital of Islamic Culture and the title of the World Book Capital.

Sharjah is the cultural capital of United Arab Emirates, and considered a the city of knowledge due to its many educational centers, institutes, museums, libraries and heritage centres.

The IAU100 NameExoWorlds project saw massive and widespread participation around the world, as the public eagerly engaged in this exciting opportunity to suggest meaningful, creative and unique names for exoplanet systems for their respective countries.

This is only the second time in history that a campaign has led to the naming of stars and exoplanets.

Overall, 360 000 proposals for names were received from 112 countries.

The National Committee in each country reduced their proposals to a shortlist of national candidates, which were presented to the public for their votes.

A total of 420 000 people voted for their preferred candidates.

This project will have a lasting impact, as the winning names will be used in parallel with the existing scientific nomenclature, credited to the person, group or institution that suggested them.

"Astronomical observations over the past generation have now discovered over 4000 planets orbiting other stars — called exoplanets. The number of discoveries continues to double about every 2½ years, revealing remarkable new planet populations and putting our own Earth and Solar System in perspective.

“Statistically, most of the stars in the sky are likely to be orbited by their own planets — they are everywhere,” said Eric Mamajek, co-chair of the NameExoWorlds Steering Committee. “While astronomers catalogue their new discoveries using telephone-number-like designations, there has been growing interest amongst astronomers and the public alike in also assigning proper names, as is done for Solar System bodies,” Mamajek continued.