NASA made a huge discovery recently. The agency discovered seven planets orbiting the red dwarf in the Trappist-1 solar system. Since the planets names were basically placeholders taken from the name of the star, NASA decided to search help from Twitter users, asking them to pitch ideas for names of the newly discovered planets. The answers are pretty interesting, to say the least.
At the moment, the planets are known as Trappist-1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 1f, 1g, and 1h, but that could change soon. The response was massive, with lots of humorous name ideas. The hashtag “#7NamesFor7NewPlanets?” is filled with cool answers.
#7NamesFor7NewPlanets?
TRAPPIST-1b
TRAPPIST-1c
TRAPPIST-1d
TRAPPIST-1e
TRAPPIST-1f
TRAPPIST-1g
TRAPPIST-1h😉 https://t.co/QS80AnZ2Jg pic.twitter.com/gis6Ba7UBu
— NASA (@NASA) February 24, 2017
One user decided to take Apple’s iPhone naming scheme and call the planets Earth 2, Earth 2s, Earth 2s Plus, Earth 2s Plus 128GB, Earth 2s Plus 128GB Black, Earth 2s Plus 128GB Rose Gold, and Earth 3. Other answers include naming the planets as seven deadly sins (Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Wrath), or naming them simply 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
https://twitter.com/loudheadphones/status/837681121160806402
https://twitter.com/thatzoe/status/837452526211387392
If you click on the link you can check out all the answers.
The chances for some of the answers to actually become the official names for the planets revolving around the TRAPPIST-1 solar system are pretty slim because NASA can’t change the names, the only official body allowed to do that is the IAU (International Astronomical Union), the ruling body for naming all things astronomical.
The Trappist-1 solar system sets a new record for the largest number of planets residing in a habitable zone around a star, outside our own solar system. The discovery “could be a significant piece of the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life. Answering the question ‘are we alone’ is a top science priority and finding so many planets like these for the first time in the habitable zone is a remarkable step forward toward that goal,” according to Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.