NASA Doing Away With ‘Harmful’ Nicknames for Cosmic Objects – International Business Times, Singapore Edition

NASA is examining its use of unofficial terminology for cosmic objects in a bid to do away with insensitive or harmful nicknames. As an initial step, NASA will no longer refer to planetary nebula NGC 2392, the glowing remains of a Sun-like star that is blowing off its outer layers at the end of its life, as the “Eskimo Nebula,” the US space agency said on Wednesday.
“Eskimo” is widely viewed as a colonial term with a racist history, imposed on the indigenous people of Arctic regions. Most offic…

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