Society

NASA-led team names Godzilla in the sky

Oct 19 (NHK) - An international team of researchers has given the name Godzilla to one of what it calls the modern constellations. The monster is among the most popular film characters created in Japan.

The team, made up of US space agency NASA and worldwide astronomy researchers, announced 21 new gamma-ray "constellations" to mark the 10th year of operations of its Fermi satellite for astronomical observation.

They are different from the constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union, such as Orion and Cassiopeia.

NASA says Godzilla was chosen because the monster's trademark heat ray bears a resemblance to gamma-ray jets associated with black holes and neutron stars.

Other names chosen for the new constellations include "The Little Prince" and comic book and movie character the "Hulk" of the Incredible Hulk series.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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