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Name the Moon petition to the IAU (Not mine)

Spaceception

By Spaceception
in Science & Spaceflight

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fredinno

fredinno

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

The Moon has such a generic name, what if we could change it?

My proposal is Inanna, Goddess of Love, War, and Fertility, she was also linked to the morning and evening star.

https://namethemoon.world/#/Facts-0

If it's ever renamed, it has to be Luna. That's the Latin name for the Moon, and planets/moons are generally named after Latin and Greek Names.

Besides, Sci-fi has been using it.:)

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Spaceception

Spaceception

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Just now, fredinno said:

If it's ever renamed, it has to be Luna. That's the Latin name for the Moon, and planets/moons are generally named after Latin and Greek Names.

Besides, Sci-fi has been using it.:)

It still sounds generic to me though, I think we should give it a cool name, I mean, look at Titan, and Callisto, and Hyperion, those are cool names, Luna, however, sounds boring. Just my 2 cents.

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Andem

Andem

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Spaceception said:

The Moon has such a generic name, what if we could change it?

My proposal is Inanna, Goddess of Love, War, and Fertility, she was also linked to the morning and evening star.

https://namethemoon.world/#/Facts-0

Um the moon already has a name. It's called Luna. people just call it the moon because it's easier. Screw those people.

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kunok

kunok

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Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, peadar1987 said:

Not true. Unless you are an ancient Roman.

And if you are a modern one too. You don't know many languages, no? :P psss moon is also luna in modern Spanish and Italian,

Edited by kunok
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fredinno

fredinno

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1 hour ago, Mitchz95 said:

Why re-name it? I don't see anything wrong with Luna.

It was never named Luna to begin with, that's just a name sci-fi writers use for some reason (and is the Moon's name in Latin)

2 hours ago, Spaceception said:

It still sounds generic to me though, I think we should give it a cool name, I mean, look at Titan, and Callisto, and Hyperion, those are cool names, Luna, however, sounds boring. Just my 2 cents.

Luna sounds exotic enough. Oberon isn't a very cool name either.

1 hour ago, Andem said:

Um the moon already has a name. It's called Luna. people just call it the moon because it's easier. Screw those people.

It's not an official IAU name.

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Andem

Andem

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43 minutes ago, kunok said:

And if you are a modern one too. You don't know many languages, no? :P psss moon is also luna in modern Spanish and Italian,

Yes! I'm first generation american, my family was from Spain. You shouldn't just assume people.

36 minutes ago, fredinno said:

It was never named Luna to begin with, that's just a name sci-fi writers use for some reason (and is the Moon's name in Latin)

Luna sounds exotic enough. Oberon isn't a very cool name either.

It's not an official IAU name.

Maybe not. But if you want to get really technical, you would call it Sol 3a.

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Wjolcz

Wjolcz

Posted
Posted

Better name it Earth I. Just like Titan is Saturn VI. Now do this for all of the moons in the solar system. Naming problem solved.

Jokes aside. Luna sounds best and most international.

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Streetwind

Streetwind

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Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, Andem said:

Um the moon already has a name. It's called Luna. people just call it the moon because it's easier. Screw those people.

 

11 hours ago, fredinno said:

It was never named Luna to begin with, that's just a name sci-fi writers use for some reason (and is the Moon's name in Latin)

Luna sounds exotic enough. Oberon isn't a very cool name either.

It's not an official IAU name.

Quoting these two opposing points of view because both are not correct.

 

People, please step away from the notion that a celestial body has one, and only one, official name. The IAU has long recognized that such a thing is infeasible. That counts double and triple for objects visible to the naked eye. Those were named long before the IAU ever became a thing... and they were named by many different cultures with many different names. Since the IAU does not make enforcable laws, but rather aims to "standardize the general consensus in order to promote easier understanding of astronomical matters across countries and cultures" (paraphrased), trying to tell some countries that the name they've given the Moon since time immemorial is suddenly not a thing anymore is not an option for them. It would in fact run counter to their mission. What they've done instead is, well, take the "porque no los dos" approach, and recognize ALL the names.

"Luna" is an officially recognized name... in certain languages.

"Moon" is an officially recognized name... in certain languages.

"Mond" is an officially recognized name... in certain languages.

And so on an so forth. All are equally valid, recognized, and interchangable. It's recommended that you pick the name that's valid in the language you write in - so that your target audience, the people who speak this language, can understand you. But ultimately, nobody can stop you from changing languages in the middle of a text (I did it up there), so you can technically use whatever recognized name you wish. Thankfully, due to the IAU's work, most people will understand you anyway.

For the same reason, "Earth" and "Terra" are both equally valid, recognized and interchangable... among many others. The same is true for all other objects visible to the naked eye. They all have many different names. It just depends on the language you speak.

 

As such, the mere notion of "renaming the Moon" is completely bunk... unless you were to lobby for adding yet another recognized name to the already long list :P

 

Edited by Streetwind
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peadar1987

peadar1987

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11 hours ago, kunok said:

And if you are a modern one too. You don't know many languages, no? :P psss moon is also luna in modern Spanish and Italian,

Touché. (I know English (the moon), Irish (An ghealach), and passable French (la lune) and Dutch (de maan)). Spanish is on the list, but as the post was in English, I was making the assumption we were talking about English names.

My gripe is with people who say "Actually, it's called Luna" as if this is the only acceptable name, with a smug and unjustified air of snobbery.

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YNM

YNM

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Posted

I prefer the moon name in whatever language we're talking with.

In any way, Selene should be the proper when talking of celestial mechanics. (Luna can also be used.)

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Scotius

Scotius

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Posted

Pffttt! "Selene", "Luna", "Moon"....boooring! In polish, we have really cool names for ol' silver coin in the sky: "Księżyc" for everyday use, and "Miesiąc" when we want to sound fancy and poetic :P How do you all like it? :lol:

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p1t1o

p1t1o

Posted
Posted

Moony McMoonface?

But srsly, Im in the ["there are many moons but our moon is called "The Moon"] school of thought - it is capitalised and context always positively identifies what you are talking about.

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