NASA said “Eskimo Nebula” and “Siamese Twins Galaxy” are the first to go.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that it will stop using nicknames of culturally insensitive celestial bodies.
In a statement published on Wednesday, August 5, NASA said it had become clear that certain cosmic nicknames were not only insensitive but actively harmful and that they were taking these initial steps to address systemic discrimination and inequality in all aspects of the field.
“As a first step, NASA will no longer refer to planetary nebula NGC 2392, the glowing remnants of a solar-like star that blows its outer layers at the end of its life, as the ‘Eskimo nebula,'” NASA said. “Eskimo” is widely regarded as a colonial term with a racist history, imposed on the indigenous peoples of the Arctic regions. Most official documents have fallen out of use. “
NASA also said it would stop referring to a distant galaxy as the “Siamese Twins Galaxy.”
“NASA will also no longer use the term ‘Siamese Twins Galaxy’ to refer to NGC 4567 and NGC 4568, a pair of spiral galaxies found in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster,” NASA said in a statement. “Going forward, NASA will only use the International Astronomical Union’s official designations in cases where names are not appropriate.”
“Siamese twins” is an obsolete term that refers to a pair of Siamese-American forced twins in the 1800s who appeared regularly in what were then known as “freak shows”.
Nicknames are often given to celestial bodies and are often referred to by them as their official names, like Barnard 33, also called “the Horsehead Nebula” because of how it looks.
But NASA said these “seemingly innocent” names could be harmful and eventually diminish from science.
“I support our ongoing revaluation of the names by which we refer to astronomical objects,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at Headquarters, Washington. “Our goal is for all names to conform to our values of diversity and inclusion, and we will work proactively with the scientific community to ensure this. Science is for everyone, and every facet of our work must reflect that value. ”
Continuing, NASA said it will work with diversity, inclusion and equity experts to provide advice and guidance for designated nicknames.
“These nicknames and terms may have historical or cultural connotations that are conflicting or unwelcome, and NASA is strongly committed to addressing them,” said Stephen T. Shih, Associate Administrator for Diversity and Equal Opportunities at NASA headquarters. “Science depends on different contributions, and benefits everyone, so this means we have to make it inclusive.”
There has been a cultural reckoning in the months following the death of George Floyd in the hands of four police officers in Minneapolis and NASA is the latest organization to join the likes of an ever-growing list – in addition to the likes of the Washington Football Team, musical groups “The Chicks” and “Lady A”, and food products such as Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth and Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream who announced that the brand “Eskimo Pie” will be launched after a century – in the examination of the power of names.
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