What's In A Name?

Tornado Red
Tornado Red Posts: 939
edited March 2013 in The Clubhouse
Waiting for my granddaughter to arrive to spend the night and I’m a little bored…okay, I’m a lot bored. So I was thinking (my mind is always a dangerous place to go without the supervision of an adult) about the Moon. How come it doesn’t have a name? There are many moons in our solar system as you know, and each one has its own name. Jupiter has Io, Europa, Ganymede, Mars has Phobes, Saturn has Titon, Neptune has Triton just to name a few. Hell, there’s even an asteroid zipping around our solar system called Ida that has a moon with a name…Dactyl. So okay, it’s not a great name, but at least it has one. Our Moon having no name is like calling Earth “the Planet”.
So, I think we should reverse this atrocity that’s plagued us oh these many eons. Please help us name the Moon, before Gingrich gets there to set up his base and name it “Newt 2”, the 51st state. All names will be considered, and even though one might lean towards a male name (you know, the “man in the moon” and all) everyone will be given consideration because I’m nothing if not open minded. Please discuss and submit.
Post edited by Tornado Red on
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Comments

  • chumlie
    chumlie Posts: 8,658
    edited March 2013
    I think THE Moon is good. No need for a name IMO.
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  • teekay0007
    teekay0007 Posts: 2,289
    edited March 2013
    How 'bout "Cheezy"?

    Makes sense, since some say/think it's made of cheese. :cheesygrin: Others may think it's possibly the home base of our newest super-high-end cable-pushin' member. :wink:
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  • pdxfj
    pdxfj Posts: 376
    edited March 2013
    The moon has a name.. it's "Luna"

    I spent 12 years working at a science museum.. one of my roles was the sole person to maintain, upgrade and repair the Planetarium..
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  • chumlie
    chumlie Posts: 8,658
    edited March 2013
    pdxfj wrote: »
    The moon has a name.. it's "Luna"

    I spent 12 years working at a science museum.. one of my roles was the sole person to maintain, upgrade and repair the Planetarium..
    Done. Asked and answered.
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  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,277
    edited March 2013
    http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=289

    What are the names of the earth, moon, sun, and solar system?
    All the other planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, etc.) have names. What's the Earth's name? The other moons in the solar system have names too (Phobos, Io, Titan, etc.). What's our moon's name? Our galaxy has a name: the Milky Way. So what's the name of our solar system?

    The name of our planet is the Earth. The name of our moon is the Moon. The name of our solar system is the Solar System.

    Notice that I capitalize them, because when used as names, they are proper nouns. This also helps us distinguish between the planet Earth and earth (meaning soil), between the Earth's Moon and moon (meaning the natural satellite of a planet), and between our Solar System and any other solar systems (since any system containing a star and a planet or a planet-forming disk can be called a solar system.)

    This is the English language usage approved by the International Astronomical Union, the body in charge of naming celestial objects. It may seem odd that these important objects don't have names, but if you think about it, it just reinforces their importance. For example, the Moon is the Moon, not just any moon. It requires no other name, because it's the most important moon!

    You may read or hear people using Luna for the Moon, or Terra or Gaia for the Earth, or Sol for the Sun, but in English-speaking countries, these are poetic terms, often seen in science fiction stories, but not used by astronomers in scientific writing. In some countries where Romance languages are spoken, these terms are the official names.

    It's also interesting to note that most astronomers do not call our galaxy the Milky Way in technical writing--they call it the Galaxy.
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  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited March 2013
    This is the most interesting stuff to be discussed here in I don't know how long.
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  • Tornado Red
    Tornado Red Posts: 939
    edited March 2013
    This is the English language usage approved by the International Astronomical Union, the body in charge of naming celestial objects. It may seem odd that these important objects don't have names, but if you think about it, it just reinforces their importance. For example, the Moon is the Moon, not just any moon. It requires no other name, because it's the most important moon!

    And so this begs the question, since we're obviously the most important planet, how come we're the Earth and not the Planet?:mrgreen:
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  • obieone
    obieone Posts: 5,077
    edited March 2013
    How about Keith?:lol:
    I refuse to argue with idiots, because people can't tell the DIFFERENCE!
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  • teekay0007
    teekay0007 Posts: 2,289
    edited March 2013
    txcoastal1 wrote: »
    This is the English language usage approved by the International Astronomical Union, the body in charge of naming celestial objects. It may seem odd that these important objects don't have names, but if you think about it, it just reinforces their importance. For example, the Moon is the Moon, not just any moon. It requires no other name, because it's the most important moon!

    You may read or hear people using Luna for the Moon, or Terra or Gaia for the Earth, or Sol for the Sun, but in English-speaking countries, these are poetic terms, often seen in science fiction stories, but not used by astronomers in scientific writing. In some countries where Romance languages are spoken, these terms are the official names.

    It's also interesting to note that most astronomers do not call our galaxy the Milky Way in technical writing--they call it the Galaxy.

    txcoastal1 - Wow, I did not know that...Now, I'm fixin' ta name a star after you! :cheesygrin:
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  • Tornado Red
    Tornado Red Posts: 939
    edited March 2013
    obieone wrote: »
    How about Keith?:lol:
    See? Now that's a great answer! BTW, Luna or Lune don't count, they're both just Moon in other languages (Latin and French respectively).
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  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,277
    edited March 2013
    teekay0007 wrote: »
    txcoastal1 - Wow, I did not know that...Now, I'm fixin' ta name a star after you! :cheesygrin:

    "Oh Alfalfa you're my hero":lol:
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  • bernardo
    bernardo Posts: 120
    edited March 2013
    http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=98

    When other moons were found they were named moon after the Moon :smile:
    The same could probably be said about the Sun and other suns
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