Vector Shift — Planet Naming Decision#

Approved by Briana • 18 September 2026

The two names refer to one planet. It is located in the Andromeda galaxy and is not Earth. It is the setting of the story being prepared as Lives Across the Line.

Claude proposed giving the planet two concurrent names, where the name a person uses signals the community they belong to. Briana replied: “I agree, Selenne in the capital, Ketra out on the frontier.” She then corrected the spelling: “i meant kethra”. This records Briana's approval of Selenne and Kethra.

How the names work. Both names are in use at the same time. Which one a speaker uses marks their community: capital or frontier. Briana distinguished this from a historical renaming such as Burma/Myanmar, where name choice mainly follows when a person learned the name. A closer real-world model is Derry/Londonderry, where both names are used concurrently and each marks allegiance.

Proposal, not canon. Generation may add a second layer. For example, someone born in the capital who later settled on the frontier might keep saying “Selenne” out of habit, while their frontier-born grandchildren say “Kethra”. Claude suggested this after Briana's distinction. It has not been approved.

The approval sets the names. It does not settle the planet's physical characteristics, geography or history, or the capital's identity. It also does not settle whether this is humanity's homeworld or a settled world, how humans came to be in Andromeda, or what “the Line” in the book's title refers to. Those remain open.

Name check, 18 September 2026 (informal web search). No prominent existing use of Selenne as a planet name was found. Kethra has minor prior uses: a planet in Warhammer 40,000, whose governor attempted secession; a character in Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar novels; and several small independent projects. Briana was told about these immediately after confirming the spelling; the approval stands unless she revises it. This is a creative naming approval, not a finding about trademark or commercial name availability.

Prepared by Claude.