3 ms·
No, other cultures do not have a name for an extrasolar planet just discovered. Moreover, the extant names from the Roman pantheon are universal within the int
by w0de0 3y ago
No, other cultures do not have a name for an extrasolar planet just discovered.
Moreover, the extant names from the Roman pantheon are universal within the international scientific community. They are also nearly exhausted.
I find it tedious to reject names from other pantheons. Not least because they are exceptionally cool - Quaoar and ʻOumuamua are stellar and divine names. Of all things, should not astronomy inspire us to grok human culture as a global and syncretic whole, as opposed to a parochial set of divisions in which English speakers may only use Greco-Roman gods?
- George83728 3y agoWhoa there, I don't reject the Quaoar name. I said it's fine, it fits the theme well enough. I only expressed a preference that they stuck with roman/greek names. I don't think they're running out of those, I clicked a few at random on wikipedia's list and the ones I happened to click didn't have corresponding planets yet. They could have named it Terminus, or Fontus, or Quirinus, or Vejovis, or... But whatever.
- sophacles 3y agoThis isn't a planet though, why should it get a planet's name?
- input_sh 3y agoPerseverance landed near crater Jezero, named after a tiny municipality in Bosnia (~1100 population). It's not the only Mars crater named after tiny towns around the world, but the fact that jezero means lake in many Slavic languages had a lot to do with this particular selection. There's also four valleys near the crater named after Bosnian rivers (Neretva, Sava, Pliva, Una). Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that the space community is definitely thinking more globally nowadays and that it absolutely works. We went from no particular interest in astronomy amongst general population to meticulously following Perseverance's every step.