TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet system

[m_c_zero]

I got all excited seeing TRAPPIST thinking it may have been a nod to Trappist breweries, but alas it is not:

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-telescope-reveals-largest-batch-of-earth-size-habitable-zone-planets-around

It actually stands for The Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST)

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I wouldn't necessarily assume it has no relation. Often times people will deliberately construct an acronym based on what they're trying to make it say. Whoever named the telescope just might be a beer geek... Maybe even a homebrewer ;-)

Edit -- in fact, it's a Belgian telescope and they say it was named specifically as an homage to Trappist monks/brewers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST

 

[JimRausch]

I have to admit, I saw the FB post and thought the same thing.......

 

[JonM]

I heard an interview with one of the scientists last night. The planets do not have official names yet, but the scientists have for now unofficially named them after different beers.

 

[ChelisHubby]

at only 40 light years away out great grand kids might go there. That is what I think is exciting!

 

[jleiii]

Sorry to burst the Trappist beer bubble...
"named for The Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile" but maybe not too much of a stretch since the letters don't quite fit directly.

 

[Pkrd]

 

[smurfjuice]

It's a trap pist ...