Petition Asking NASA to Name Planet After Late Musician Sophie Goes Viral

Fans are sending around an online petition urging NASA to name a newly discovered planet after pioneering trans producer and musician, Sophie, who died last weekend after a fall while trying to take a picture of the full moon in Athens, Greece. She was 34.

"I am requesting that TOI-1338 b be named in honor of Sophie, in honor of a great LGBT+ influence," writes Christian Arroyo, who launched the petition. "I want her name to be remembered and her influence to continue to flourish for many years to come."

Arroyo also writes: "When artist renditions of TOI 1338 b (a circumbinary exoplanet discovered by Wolf Cukier and fellow scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center) were featured in the press following the 235th American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu, many fans noticed the similarities between the interpretations and the aesthetic sense of SOPHIE's visual work, specifically the cover for her 2018 album 'Oil of Every Pearl's UnInsides.'"

British pop star Charli XCX, a close friend and frequent collaborator with Sophie, also shared the petition on Twitter and asked fans to sign it.

As of this writing, the petition has earned nearly 58,000 signatures of the 75,000 requested. Click here to check it out.