Nasa's naming call for new planets

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-39140180

Elon Musk approves marketing plan by a schoolgirl, and Nasa's naming call for new planets

By BBC News
Staff


2 March 2017
(snip)

Nasa turned to the public for assistance in naming the seven newly discovered planets.

It's all in the name

"Planet McPlanetface. Moonie McMoonface. Rocky McRockface."

These are just some of the names social media users suggested after Nasa sent out a tweet asking for #7Namesfor7NewPlanets in the Trappist-1 System.

Late last month, astronomers announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a single star, some of which could be potentially habitable. It's hard enough to think of one name, but seven in one go is no easy feat. So Nasa's appeal for help was met with an outpouring of support, with 3,400 replies so far and several thousand retweets.

Popular TV and cartoon characters, both for children and adults, featured prominently among the proposed names.

"Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Joey, Ross and Janice," one user said.

"Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Tigger, Roo, Eeyore and Christopher," a UK-based tweeter chimed in.

And bringing the Seven Dwarfs into the spotlight, another proposed: "Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy and Grumpy."