Science
NASA Drops “Harmful” and “Insensitive” Nicknames For Cosmic Objects – The Swaddle
The space organization is reexamining its naming system and retiring names like ‘Eskimo Nebula’ and ‘Siamese Twins Galaxy.’
NASA has announced that it is reevaluating its use of nicknames, or unofficial terminology, for cosmic objects.
Official names for astronomical objects like planets, galaxies, and nebulae, typically, comprise combinations of letters and numbers. So these objects are often assigned unofficial nicknames to make them more approachable to the general public. However, according to the announcement from NASA, these seemingly innocuous nicknames can be “insensitive” and “harmful.”
The space agency is…
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