New petition launched to name planet after SOPHIE

A petition has been circulatiing online calling for a planet to be named after late Scottiss DJ and producer SOPHIE. The planet TOI 1338 b, was discovered in 2019 by a 17-year-old NASA intern.

The trans activist, avant-pop producer and DJ died tragically last week after an accident in Athens, where the artist was living.

“SOPHIE was a highly influential singer, songwriter, and producer who was an source of great inspiration to the LGBTQIA+ community,” says the petition. “Her messages, actions, and music left a lasting impression on many LGBTQIA+ individuals. She always pushed a message of individuality and expressing your true self that resonated throughout everything she did.

“SOPHIE released an album in 2018, titled Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides. On the cover art for the album, SOPHIE sits surrounded by water in an ethereal setting. Recently revealed images TOI 1338 b, a planet discovered in the summer of 2019 by Wolf Cukier, bear a resemblance to the setting pictured on the cover to Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides.

“I am requesting that TOI 1338 b be named in honour of SOPHIE, in honour of a great LGBT+ influence.”

TOI 1338 b is almost the size of Saturn, and 6.9 times the size of Earth. It was discovered after NASA’s TESS satellite picked up on two stars orbiting each other. The anomaly was initially flagged as an eclipsing binary – whereby the two stars eclipse each other from view – but when examining the data, Wolf Cukier found the planet. It’s the only planet in the TOI 1338 system.

Since her death, tributes have been pouring in from many of her collaborators, including Christine and The Queens, Charli XCX and Vince Staples. The rapper worked with SOPHIE on his album ‘Big Fish Theory’.

“Sophie was different you ain’t never seen somebody in the studio smoking a cigarette in a leather bubble jacket just making beats not saying one word,” he wrote in a series of tweets.

You can sign the petition here.