Prof de los Reyes is calling for the renaming of the twin Magellan Telescopes, currently located in Chile, a country she described as having a history of violent Spanish conquest.
She pointed out that Magellan’s “discovery” of the Strait of Magellan allowed Spanish conquistadors to explore Chile’s coast and led to genocidal campaigns against the native Mapuche people.
According to her, many astronomers share the belief that astronomical objects and facilities should not be named after individuals with a violent colonialist legacy.
Bob Blackman, the Conservative MP for Harrow East, dismissed the calls to rename the galaxies as “absolute nonsense,” highlighting the involvement of various individuals in the slave trade throughout history.
In 2020, Nasa announced that it was reevaluating its use of unofficial terminology for cosmic objects as part of its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
As a result, the space agency decided to stop referring to the planetary nebula NGC 2392 as the “Eskimo Nebula” and to eliminate the use of the term “Siamese Twins Galaxy” for a pair of spiral galaxies in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster.
Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator of Nasa’s Science Mission Directorate, emphasized the importance of aligning all names with the values of diversity and inclusion in the scientific community.
He stated, “Science is for everyone, and every facet of our work needs to reflect that value.”
