Who will win this epic battle between Johannes Kepler and Demon King Piccolo?
On December 5, 2011, NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope confirmed the existence of a previously undiscovered planet. Since it orbits the star Kepler-22, scientists have henceforth referred to the planet as Keplar-22b.
While we’re all for honoring Johannes Kepler, at this rate everything in the cosmos will be named after the Renaissance-period astronomer. Thankfully, a countermeasure has been proposed by American Lou Earley. His solution?
Rename Kepler-22b Planet Namek.
▼ A NASA artist’s rendition of Keplar-22b
For those not up on their anime vocabulary, Namek is the home planet of Dragon Ball’s green-skinned Namekians, of whom turban-loving Piccolo is the most famous representative.
Earley is serious about the proposal. He’s even started a Change.org online petition, which he plans to submit to the International Astronomical Union, the organization responsible for designating the names of heavenly bodies, should it reach its goal of 75,000 supporters. And it’s not like he’s solely motivated by his love of the martial arts anime franchise, since Earley also points out that Keplar-22b looks pretty similar to how Namek appears in Dragon Ball.
▼ Planet Namek
So far, Earley has found some 54,000 like-minded fans of both anime and astronomy, and if you’d like to join their cause, the petition can be found here.
Source: Yurukuyaru
Insert images: NASA, Wikia
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