Should We Name the Recently Discovered Kepler Planets Romulus & Remus?
Posted by Justin on December 22nd, 2011
There seems to be a movement afoot, begun on Space.com’s Facebook page, to colloquially refer to the recently discovered Kepler planets Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f by the Star Trek-inspired nicknames Romulus and Remus. According to Gene Roddenberry’s lore, those planets were home to the nefarious Romulans whose names were in turn taken from the twin mythological founders of Rome.
Good reasons abound.
1) it’s easier to remember for researchers who admit that even they get the order and naming of the Kepler planets confused
2) it’s easier to remember for the general populace who would be more encouraged to talk about it if they could remember the name
3) Star Trek rules
In fact, the only downside is the very real possibility that a miner baring a striking resemblance to Eric Bana will one day be born there only to see the planet destroyed despite the too-late interventions of ambassador Spock. Red eyed with revenge, he’d eventually destroy Vulcan before attempting to destroy Earth.
But other than that, we are behind it.
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