# Naming Gliese 1132b **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 8, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200 "2016-08-08T22:45:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/1 "2016-08-08T22:45:44Z")
[Gliese 1132b](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliese_1132_b) is a fairly recently discovered exoplanet that’s 39 ly away. For inexplicable reasons, it wasn’t immediately named Kessel. How do we fix this mistake? 39 ly = 12 parsecs PS if it has any moons, we can name them Han and Luke… ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/2 "2016-08-08T23:03:25Z")
How about Inferno? Looks like it’s hot as hell. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/3 "2016-08-08T23:18:38Z")
I’m not looking for alternative names. There’s lots of overly hot exoplanets, but there’s only one that’s that far away. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/4 "2016-08-10T22:38:21Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > [Gliese 1132b](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliese_1132_b) is a fairly recently discovered exoplanet that’s 39 ly away. For inexplicable reasons, it wasn’t immediately named Kessel. How do we fix this mistake? > 39 ly = 12 parsecs > PS if it has any moons, we can name them Han and Luke… For clarification purposes, that designation means it’s not been actually named yet. That’s like a Star Trek name–it’s the second planet around the star Gliese 1132. And the number in the star name means it’s star number 1132 in the [Gliese Catalog of Nearby Stars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliese_Catalogue_of_Nearby_Stars), which lists stars within 25 parsecs (80ly) of Earth. So both the star and the planet–both 39ly away–are still to be named. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/5 "2016-08-12T05:32:02Z")
Thank you for that clarification. (Just for the record, I knew all that. Nitpick, it’s actually the first planet discovered around that star.) The real problem is that the people who discovered it didn’t name it Kessel, even if it wasn’t official. I just can’t understand how they could have missed that. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/6 "2016-08-12T05:42:15Z")
OK, having lookesd up Kessel on Wookiepedia, I still have no idea what you’re on about. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/7 "2016-08-12T05:45:20Z")
The connection between 39 light years and Kessel is pretty tenuous. Yeah sure 12 parsecs is 39 light years, but Han was using it as a measure of time which makes no sense. Also Earth is nowhere in the star wars universe (its in a galaxy far far away) so it doesn’t even make sense that Kessel would be 39 light years from earth. In short your request to rename Gliese 1132b is denied! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/8 "2016-08-12T06:29:38Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > The connection between 39 light years and Kessel is pretty tenuous. It’s the only thing we got. > [@](#): > > Yeah sure 12 parsecs is 39 light years, but Han was using it as a measure of time which makes no sense. As I understand it (and I could be wrong about this), Lucas was told that during the filming and still didn’t change the script. > [@](#): > > Also Earth is nowhere in the star wars universe (its in a galaxy far far away) so it doesn’t even make sense that Kessel would be 39 light years from earth. Objection! Irrelevant information! > [@](#): > > In short your request to rename Gliese 1132b is denied! Methinks the judge has gone over to the Dark Side. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/9 "2016-08-12T07:03:39Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Yeah sure 12 parsecs is 39 light years, but Han was using it as a measure of time which makes no sense. The usual explanation is that the Kessel Run goes through a cluster of black holes. Talented pilots can cut closer to the black holes and go a shorter distance as compared to someone swinging wide. Given this, the run is presumably somewhat less than 12 parsecs; else, Han’s trip would have been a straight line (or as close as you can get in the curved space around black holes). That doesn’t seem to require much talent, so I’d expect the real distance to be 10 parsecs or less. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/10 "2016-08-12T07:45:43Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Methinks the judge has gone over to the Dark Side. If by “dark side” you mean I’m a fan of Star Trek and not Star Wars then I plead guilty! (I mean Prime universe Trek not JJ’s lens flared abominations). It would make much more sense to name exoplanets after planets from Star Trek, since at least we’re in the right frigging galaxy and in some cases rough distances from earth are actually given in Star Trek. I say we call it Tarsas III, a planet in sector 001 which seems to be approximately the correct distance from earth. > **[Tarsas III](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Tarsas_III)** > > Tarsas III was the third planet of its star system in Sector 001 of the Alpha Quadrant. The planet was orbited by a Luna-like moon and Starbase 74, a Federation Spacedock-type starbase. (TNG: "11001001"; TNG: "Conspiracy", okudagram) In 2364, the USS... ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/11 "2016-08-12T08:10:36Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > I say we call it Tarsas III, a planet in sector 001 which seems to be approximately the correct distance from earth. > > [Tarsas III | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Tarsas_III) That doesn’t say how far away Tarsas III is. How big are the sectors in ST? ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/12 "2016-08-13T05:05:13Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > How big are the sectors in ST? Ah, sorry I found that somewhere else and it seems ST sectors are around 20 light years across, so yeah Gliese 1132b would be in a neighbuoring sector and not in sector 001. Someone with more time on their hands can go through the list of star trek planets and find one the right distance away. Here gives the size of a sector: > **[Sector](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Sector)** > > In cartography, a sector was an area in physical space. The surface of planetary bodies were gridded into sectors. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock; Star Trek Into Darkness) In stellar cartography, a sector, which was referred to as a star sector... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists\_of\_Star\_Trek\_planets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_Star_Trek_planets) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-gliese-1132b/762200/13 "2017-04-10T21:46:14Z")
Reviving this thread to note that they’ve discovered that [1132b has an atmosphere](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170406152402.htm). Not that that makes it inhabitable, but it’s a step in the right direction. The [TRAPPIST-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1) system is also about 12 parsecs away, so we have two potential Kessel Systems out there. So maybe they’re waiting to see which system has life before naming one Kessel. (Or am I just rationalizing?)