After petitioning to have the Empire Stare Building to be lit up Tardis-blue, CNet is reporting that Doctor Who fans are now pushing to have a newly discovered planet renamed ‘Gallifrey’ in honour of the Doctor’s home world…
You don’t have to be a “Doctor Who” nut to know this is a good idea. The planet is currently known by the rather catchy name of HD 106906 b, and is the most distantly orbiting planet around a single Sun-like star that astronomers have been able to identify.
The Change.org petition was started by Whovian Sam Menhennet from Australia. “Years from now, when I have grandchildren, and I tell them about my favourite show growing up, I want to tell them that we found the planet that the Doctor was from. Do it for the fandom!” Menhennet writes.
The petition is currently up more than 111,000 signatures, with a goal of 150,000 signers. It will be delivered to members of the International Astronomical Union, as well as Vanessa Bailey, the astronomy graduate student who led the team that made the discovery.
Want to sign the petition? Right this way – http://www.change.org/petitions/international-astronomical-union-to-rename-the-newly-discovered-planet-hd-106906-b-to-gallifrey-in-honour-of-doctor-who-and-its-50-years-even-if-it-s-just-a-second-name-or-officially-recognised-as-also-known-as-gallifrey-gallifreyfound?share_id=FYxHTizrAd&utm_campaign=share_button_action_box&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition
Let us know what you think in the comments – if “Gallifrey” becomes a planet name, perhaps it will open the floodgates to bringing more sci-fi and superhero names to the heavens. Could a “Tatooine” or “Krypton” be far behind?
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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