Ukrainian astronomers have taken their disdain for Russian President Vladimir Putin to the cosmos.
Together with pro-Ukraine activists, the astronomers named a star "Putin-Huilo" -- a Ukrainian insult that, loosely translated, means "Putin is a d**khead."
The star, whose official name is KIC 9696936, was given its new moniker through the Pale Blue Dot project, a nonprofit that lets people "adopt" a star for as little as $10. (The proceeds from the star adoptions are used to fund astronomy research.)
Travis Metcalfe, founder of the adopt-a-star project, told the Moscow Times that his team hadn't initially recognized the derogatory term the Ukrainian astronomers had chosen for their star.
"It says 'Putin is a d**khead,' but in Ukrainian -- so we didn't recognize what it actually said. I wasn't familiar with the term huilo," Metcalfe said.
He insisted, however, that the star will keep its new, explicit name.
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