You may have heard the shanty of Boaty McBoatface, the Boatiest Boat on the Sea. This piece of pure wonder was provided by the humans of planet Earth, in a dark and troubling time. When Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council took to the internet to ask people to name a polar research vessel, they were probably expecting something sensible, or perhaps even regal. They even asked for “an inspirational name.” But no. This is the modern internet, and the name that prevailed is Boaty McBoatface. Not to be outdone, the scientific community has responded with their own naming conventions, creating a pair of delightful hashtags, #TheInternetNamesSpace and #TheInternetNamesAnimals. We rounded up a few of our favorites below!
After Southwest Research Institute astronomer Alex Parker kicked things off with this shot, tagging it #TheInternetNamesSpace:
Comet McCometface #TheInternetNamesSpace pic.twitter.com/EHEB8HrtQp — Alex Parker (@Alex_Parker) March 21, 2016
Many other space-types joined in! Jillian Scudder would like to introduce you to Starface: 
Starface Gassy McSmashy #TheInternetNamesSpace pic.twitter.com/RB84qOWPlw — Jillian Scudder (@Jillian_Scudder) March 21, 2016
And Alex Parker came back in with a name that sums up the awe-inspiring mysteries of the cosmos:
The Big Swirly Swirly #TheInternetNamesSpace pic.twitter.com/eAwk8DdpPB — Alex Parker (@Alex_Parker) March 21, 2016
Not to be outdone, Zoologist Rob O’Sullivan created #TheInternetNamesAnimals to “mount a challenge to the space nerds! And started off right by posting a gif of a spider capturing a hapless bug:
Jarod K. Anderson gave the ostrich a more appropriate moniker:
Pantless Thunder-Goose #TheInternetNamesAnimals pic.twitter.com/S0iKonLUhA — Jarod K. Anderson (@JarodAnderson) March 22, 2016
And IFL Science joined in with this dapper snake, er, DANGER NOODLE: 
In honor of Boaty McBoatface, the internet has treated us to #TheInternetNamesAnimals: https://t.co/PMKg4WYiNnpic.twitter.com/XfdU6tpApb — IFLScience (@IFLScience) March 24, 2016
And Prof-like Substance joined in with Toothy McNudist.
Toothy McNudist #TheInternetNamesAnimals pic.twitter.com/P66h9O5LpT — Pröf-like Substance (@ProfLikeSubst) March 22, 2016
Lisa Buckley goes with the Scottish theme, while also honoring the name most of us give spiders:
AAAAHHH McAAAAHHHerson #TheInternetNamesAnimals pic.twitter.com/Jviv3Ni4ls — Lisa Buckley (@Lisavipes) March 21, 2016
But our obvious favorite comes from Mashable’s space reporter, Miriam Kramer:
THE DEATH STAR, DUH. #theInternetNamesSpace pic.twitter.com/pQCyNz0osP — Miriam Kramer (@mirikramer) March 21, 2016
Duh.
Head over to Twitter for #TheInternetNamesAnimals and #TheInternetNamesSpace for more naming action!
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