New planets lead to fascinating new potentials for further discovery. They also lead to some of the best opportunities for fresh names. In the original live stream Q&A with NASA scientists, someone even asked via Twitter what the new names would be. One of the researchers chuckled before explaining that naming every new discovery with an appropriate title would take a very long time.
[Image Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech]
However, the Trappist-1 system doesn't seem to be just any new discovery. NASA tweeted out a call for the public to help name the new planets with the hashtag #7NamesFor7NewPlanets.
— NASA (@NASA) February 24, 2017
These are some of our favorite suggestions for the seven newly discovered planets.
This Apple-inspired gem:
Earth 2s Plus
Earth 2s Plus 128GB
Earth 2s Plus 128GB Black
Earth 2s Plus 128GB Rose Gold
— trutherbotred (@trutherbotred) February 25, 2017
This politically-inspired suggestion:
Far from Trump1
Far from Trump2
Far from Trump3
Far from Trump4
Far from Trump5
Far from Trump6
Far from Trump7
— Mike Pons (@mikepons) February 24, 2017
Maybe we could rename the system the Bueller system?
— CW (@Carpe_Latte) February 24, 2017
Fairytale names for a seemingly magical discovery. It's definitely a joke made funnier since the planets orbit a dwarf star:
& Grumpy (my personal favorite)
I say 7 planets - Stay with the classics.
— Abigail Edwards ? (@Writing_Abigail) February 24, 2017
The Harry Potter Fandom definitely made its suggestions known. There were a lot of variations of this:
— lottie (@pottersnewt) February 24, 2017
There was this moving suggestion to name the planets after the crew who died in the Challenger space shuttle mission:
#7namesfor7newplanets they should be named after the 7 people from the Space Shuttle Challenger
— Caffeinated K€VIN☕? (@Midnatt590) February 24, 2017
To some, naming the planets was just child's play:
Duck, duck, duck, duck ,duuuuck, duck GOOSE #7NamesFor7NewPlanets
— Bensworld (@Benie_ben) February 24, 2017
Star Trek names were suggested:
— Terry Yocham (@Lord_Kingsley) March 5, 2017
People took the opportunity to have Pluto's back:
— Christine Bottas (@Nyhterides) March 2, 2017
And this thought-provoking suggestion that we can't stop pondering:
— Imperator Furiosa (@blackdeanarys) February 24, 2017
Typically, the naming goes to the person or people who discover the object. However, this wouldn't be the first time a public naming occurred.
[Image Source: Credits: NASA-JPL/Caltech]
Want to get in on the fun? The International Astronomical Union recommends short, one-word names. They should be easily pronounced and nothing offensive. They should also not be too similar to an existing body's name.