The American space agency NASA stops using offensive names for objects in space. For example, the Eskimo Nebula, the glowing remnants of a star, is now going through life under the scientific name NGC 2392.
“Eskimo is seen as a colonial term with a racist past, imposed on the original inhabitants of the Arctic,” NASA explains.
The name ‘Siamese Twin System’ is also deleted. These are two galaxies that merge into one another.
From now on, NASA will use the scientific names NGC 4567 and NGC 4568. The space agency is looking for more offensive and embarrassing nicknames in the universe.
The International Astronomical Union deals with the official names in the universe. Still, these are mainly complex scientific codes full of figures.
Organizations themselves can choose to use names that are easier to remember. For example, the object Barnard 33 is also called the Horsehead Nebula because it resembles the head of a horse.
