Nasa has marked the 10th anniversary of its Fermi Gamma-ray Space Satellite by naming 21 new gamma-ray constellations in the night sky.

And the space agency has clearly been going for a different angle when it comes to naming conventions.

It named one of the constellations after The Incredible Hulk and another after the TARDIS from Doctor Who. A third is called Godzilla.

To be fair, these aren’t star signs – they’re constellations based on gamma rays which are a type of electromagnetic radiation emanating through space.


The Fermi Gamma ray telescope (image: Nasa)

Considering it’s gamma radiation that turns Bruce Banner into the Hulk, you could argue it’s on point from Nasa.



‘Gamma rays are the strongest form of light,” the space agency said.

‘They pack enough punch to convert into matter under the right circumstances, a transformation both Banner and the Hulk would certainly appreciate.’

Meanwhile, Nasa has also spent time considering why Godzilla merited a constellation.

‘Godzilla’s trademark weapon is its ‘heat ray,’ a fiery jet,’ it said.

The Hulk and Godzilla constellations (Image: Nasa)

‘This bears at least a passing resemblance to gamma-ray jets associated with black holes and neutron stars.’

The Fermi telescope was launched in 2008 and is capable of mapping the entire sky in three hours.

‘Fermi sees gamma rays from sources as diverse as thunderstorms on Earth, stellar explosions across the universe, pulsars in our own and other galaxies, and distant galaxies where supermassive black holes power especially intense emissions,’ writes Nasa.

‘In fact, these galaxies make up more than half the high-energy sources Fermi has cataloged in the sky to date.

‘By studying the strongest form of light, scientists are able to access extraordinary astrophysical environments and gain insight into the extreme processes occurring within them.’