Recently, astronomers discovered the most distant dwarf planet in the Solar System. Nicknamed "Farout," it sits over twice as far from the Sun as Pluto.

At some point, the International Astronomical Union will have to give it a name. We think it should be called Yuggoth.

Background: Yuggoth is the name of a fictional planet created by H.P. Lovecraft. It is located "on the very edge of the Solar system," and is a colony of the alien Mi-Go. Lovecraft most prominently featured it in the short story "The Whisperer in Darkness," and it also appeared in his "Fungi from Yuggoth." It is a barren world covered in enormous lightless cities.

Lovecraft wrote to a friend in 1930 that Pluto, in fact, was Yuggoth. At least, it was intended to be. However, since New Horizons has established a definite lack of giant cities on Pluto, we propose that the distant object currently nicknamed "Farout" be given the name Yuggoth, in honor of the legendary writer H.P. Lovecraft.

Why should this proposal be considered? Well, it is a well-worn naming convention of the Outer Planets to name their various moons after people and places in fiction. Additionally, the sheer distance of "Farout" from the rest of the Solar System renders it possibly one of the most alien locations we know of, a perfect candidate for being named after an alien world.

Finally, it's only fitting to name a distant Kuiper object after something in the works of H.P. Lovecraft, a man who wrote extensively of the "outer spheres." Lovecraft's influence is everywhere, from art to books to tabletop and video games. His beloved "Cthulhu mythos" has germinated over the years and various authors into a vast body of work, rivaling that of the world of Conan the Barbarian. And his focus on cosmic horror gave birth to a whole new sort of thriller writer.

As mankind looks out to the stars, it is easy to find ourselves lost in their glow. Let's acknowledge one of the men who contemplated that glow the most, and mark his legacy in space.