Science is very good at discovery, analysis, and classification. It isn’t so good at coming up with memorable names for things.
The Kepler Space Telescope has detected 5 planets orbiting in other solar systems far away. Scientists working on the Kepler mission have been able to infer some characteristics of the planets.
All the planets discovered so far are extremely large and hot – thousands of degrees Fahrenheit. They are all orbiting close to their stars in rapid orbits. A year on these planets lasts just a few Earth days. One of the planets was found to have a density about the same as styrofoam.
With all this great information, NASA has assigned the planets extremely boring names: Kepler 4b, Kepler 5b, Kepler 6b, Kepler 7b, and Kepler 8b.
Space fans, we need better than that. Let’s give these planets some better names. I propose, for instance, that we give the hot and fluffy 7b the new name of Planet Cappuccino.
Any other suggestions?
