1700: Gods in Cosmic Names (S.S.7) Aug 10, 2019

Over the last week, the posts have focused on naming things in our solar system. An obvious source is the Roman pantheon of gods, and while that may seem strange, looking at other cultures it is anything but. In languages ranging from Chinese to Hebrew to Nahuatl, rather than using the same words—even in scientific contexts as is often the case—different mythological systems will inspire naming the cosmos. Indeed, even in newer discoveries this happens. With 'Neptune', named for its blue color like the ocean and the Roman god thereof, it is 'Rahab' (רהב) in Hebrew named for a sea monster and 'Tlāloccītlalli' in Nahuatl after the Aztec rain-god. While these are newer, most cultures used mythology to inspire the names of these celestial bodies, and the two often related culturally as well. This concludes the week-long series, but you can can get them all together here.

1699: Men are from Mars and Women from Venus: Naming Conventions (S.S.6) Aug 9, 2019

There are many naming conventions for features of planets, such as siller ones mentioned yesterday, as well as more traditional ones. For instance, with few exceptions, all the features of Venus have feminine names, and all the features of Mars have masculine ones. There are at least 3 physical features named for male scientists on Venus, but even so most modern naming is feminine. This comes from the idea that Mars and Venus as gods represented the male and female forms, and any newer names are a nod to this.

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1698: Non-Roman Planetary Naming Conventions (S.S.5) Aug 8, 2019

All other planets in the solar system (and a few other bodies) are named for Roman gods, but modern naming conventions are a bit less grandiose. Lord of the Rings, for instance, has been the inspiration for the names of some of the features of Titan, a Saturnian moon, and authors who wrote about Mars were memorialized in the names of physical features on Deimos, a Martian moon, named for the god of terror to correspond with Mars, the god of war. There are numerous easter-eggs—informal and formal—like this in cosmic, and particularly galactic nomenclature, so if you know any more, feel free to leave a comment, though there will be more tomorrow about other, older traditions.

Read more from the last few days here.

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1697: planets (S.S.4) Aug 7, 2019

Pluto was demoted from being a planet in 2006, but this was not the first time something like that's happened. The word 'planet' was not terribly meaningful throughout much of history. Classically, both the Sun and the Moon were considered planets, part of the "seven classical planets". The word 'planet' comes from two Greek words, πλάνης (planēs) and πλανήτης (planētēs). The former meant 'planet' like we'd think now but also 'star', and they both meant 'wanderer', describing anything moving in the cosmos.

See more from the Solar System Series here.

1696: neptune (S.S.3) Aug 6, 2019

Again, of the two planets unknown (as planets) to the Romans, 'Neptune' still got a Roman name (see 'uranus' here). At first, it was just called "Le Verrier's planet" after the discoverer, but the English again pushed for Uranus to be called 'Herschel' after its discoverer, and these were used for a short time, until it was decided to keep tradition and name the planets after Roman mythology, so 'Neptune' was selected, as it is an icy, blue planet, and therefore named after the god of the ocean. Many other language's name for the planet come from their respective mythology around the ocean as well, from Chinese to Hebrew and even Nahuatl, rather than using the same word. There will be more on this tomorrow.

1695: uranus (S.S.2) Aug 5, 2019

All of the 6 planets known to the Romans were named for gods, but the fact that the rest are too was never a forgone conclusion. Uranus was the next to be considered a planet, though it was always known about even before telescopes. It was named because Uranus was the father of Saturn in Roman mythology, and Saturn is the planet before Uranus, though the name wasn't popular outside of Britain. The discoverer Herschel wanted to name it after King George III, calling it 'Georgium Sidus' (George's Star), though it was not a star, though this name was unpopular, and many called it 'Neptune' for some time, as a way to commemorate British naval victories. The last planet, 'Neptune', will be discussed tomorrow.

1694: Names of Roman Planets (S.S.1) Aug 4, 2019

All of the planets, except for Earth, in the solar system are named for Roman gods. The reasons for most of the names are fairly straightforward. Mercury, what appeared as the fastest planet, was named for the messenger god; Venus was named after the goddess of love—same as the Babylonians—because it is so bright; Mars, a red planet is from the god of war; and Jupiter, the biggest planet is from the king of the gods; Saturn was named for the god of agriculture because it was thought to be a sun. However, these were the only known planets in Roman times, and it was not always a done-deal that the rest of the planets would borrow the tradition. The rest of the planets will be discussed in the post tomorrow.

See more here regarding other celestial names