Happy birthday, dear LkCa 15 b!

Happy birthday, bouncing baby … HUH?

The cosmic news about the discovery of a planet still in formation is a thrill for Mauna Kea astronomers, but some of us would love a cuter name for the infant celestial body than LkCa 15 b. The small b at the end is the reference to the planet; the rest of the gobbledygook is actually the name of the star it’s circling.

An English-language website for the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany comes to the rescue: “For all but the very brightest stars, astronomers use a (sometimes bewildering) array of catalogue numbers,” it reads. “‘LkCa 15’ is entry number 15 in a small survey of stars emitting light characteristic for the chemical element calcium, undertaken by astronomers at Lick Observatory — hence ‘Lick Calcium,’ or ‘LkCa’ for short.”

Scientists say a nicer name may come. Yes: Mother Nature deserves better for her kid.

Big-time changes for Farrington

At long last, there is much light coming from the end of the tunnel for dilapidated, long-suffering Farrington High School. And what a spiffy tunnel it promises to be.

In a few months, the state will launch a decade-long, $100 million modernization of the 75-year-old campus, repairing aging structures such as leaky roofs and integrating 21st-century concepts such as multiclass learning-center hubs.

Of course, the total money allocation is not a done deal — and Farrington administrators may well be camping out at the Legislature each spring as they pursue funding to keep the work going.

But if it all works out in the end, the reward will be a reinvigorated campus in the heart of Kalihi, tailored to the educational needs and motivational desires of its students as well as faculty.