Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Planet Names
From Wordorigins.org:
(Second of Two Parts) A question to the Wordorigins.org discussion forum a week or so ago asked about the origins of the names of the planets. The “official” names of objects in the solar system are assigned by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a global association of astronomers. The IAU follows several conventions in naming planets and moons, the main
ones being that planets are given names of Roman mythological beings and moons are given Greek mythological names associated with the Greek equivalent of the Roman god. Many of these names did not originate with the IAU, but have borne the names of these deities dating back into antiquity. There are exceptions to the IAU naming conventions. Shakespearean names are assigned to moons of Uranus and the occasional Norse or Inuit mythological name appears here and there.Here is the second half of our examination of the names of the planets and moons.
Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun and the second largest, is named after the king of the Titans, the father of Jupiter. Saturn’s Greek counterpart is Cronos. English use of Saturn as the planetary name dates back to Old English. The adjective is Saturnian, 1557.
Like Jupiter, Saturn has many satellites. The Saturnian moons tend to
be named after Titans from myth, although there are many exceptions:a.. Pan, named after the Greek god of nature. Discovered by
astronomer Mark Showalter in 1990 from Voyager photos.
b.. Atlas, after the Titan condemned to support the heavens on his
shoulders. Discovered by Richard Terrile in 1980 from Voyager photos
c.. Prometheus, Greek for foresight, after the Titan who gave fire
to man. Discovered by S. Collins in 1980 from Voyager photos
d.. Pandora, after the first woman in Greek mythology. Discovered by
Collins in 1980 from Voyager photos.
e.. Epimetheus, Greek for hindsight, brother of Prometheus. This
moon was first observed by Walker in 1966, but was confused with Janus (see
next). In 1977, Fountain and Larson demonstrated they were separate objects.
...
Uranus, named after the Greek deity of the heavens, husband of Gaia
and father of Cronus, is the seventh planet and the first to be discovered
in modern times. It was first sighted by Herschel in 1781. Herschel named it
the Georgium sidus (the Georgian planet) in honor of King George III. The
name Uranus was proposed by Johann Bode sometime before 1802. The adjective
is Uranian, 1844.Uranian moons follow a different naming convention than most objects
in the solar system. Instead of being named after characters in Greco-Roman
myth, they are named after Shakespearian characters:a.. Cordelia, after King Lear’s daughter. Discovered by Voyager 2 in
1986.
b.. Ophelia, after Polonius’ daughter from Hamlet. Discovered by
Voyager 2 in 1986.
c.. Bianca, after Katherine’s sister in The Taming of the Shrew.
Discovered by Voyager 2 in 1986.
d.. Cressida, after the title character in Troilus and Cressida.
Discovered by Voyager 2 in 1986.
e.. Desdemona, after Othello’s wife. Discovered by Voyager 2 in
1986.
f.. Juliet, after the heroine of Romeo and Juliet. Discovered by
Voyager 2 in 1986.
...The eighth, and some would say last, planet is Neptune, named for the
Roman god of the sea. It was discovered by Johann Galle and Heinrich
d’Arrest in 1846, although Galileo had seen in 1613, but mistook it for a
star. Due to Pluto’s highly eccentric orbit, Neptune is sometimes the
outermost planet. The adjective is Neptunian, 1849....
Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh and named after the
Roman god of the underworld. Astronomers are currently debating whether
Pluto should be classified as a planet because of its small size and its
orbit that is inclined outside the plane of the other planets. Pluto has
three moons, one named. Charon, discovered in 1978 by Jim Christy, is named
after the ferryman who takes departed souls over the river Acheron into
HadesThe recently discovered Sedna is so far out, more than twice as far
from the sun as Pluto, that its orbital period is 10,500 years. Slightly
smaller than Pluto, Sedna was discovered in 2004 and named after the Inuit
goddess of the sea. Given the controversy over Pluto’s planetary status, it
is unlikely that Sedna will be classified as a planet.In June of this year, astronomers Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David
Rabinowitz announced the discovery of the tenth planet. The planet currently
has a designation of 2003 UB313. A permanent name has been proposed and is
under review by the IAU, but what that is and whether the IAU will accept it
is unknown. Little is known about 2003 UB313, although it is definitely
bigger than Pluto—the best guess puts it at about 125% of Pluto’s size or
somewhat larger than Triton. 2003 UB313 orbits the sun at a distance of 97
astronomical units, making it the most distant object known to orbit the
sun. (Earth orbits at one astronomical unit; Pluto is at about 40, and Sedna
is at 90.) In September, a moon orbiting 2003 UB313 was found....