Newly Discovered 10th Planet

Karlprof! · Post by **Karlprof!** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:06 pm

"Planet Nintendo 64!" [/futurama]

I've heard that these so-called planets are actually just abnormally large asteroids from the outer asteroid belt, and as such can't really be classified as planets. It'll be interesting to see whether they're appended to the list of the planets in our solar system or not.

Heimidal · Post by **Heimidal** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:18 pm

Karlprof! wrote: I've heard that these so-called planets are actually just abnormally large asteroids from the outer asteroid belt, and as such can't really be classified as planets. It'll be interesting to see whether they're appended to the list of the planets in our solar system or not.

The planet in question is in the Kuiper belt in the outer portion of our Solar System, so it probably is an asteroid. However, planets aren't easily classified (there are many differing opinions on what constitutes a planet). More reading at Wikipedia

It's also worth noting that Uranus is a Greek god, not a Roman god.

Flaming_cows · Post by **Flaming_cows** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:27 pm

Heimidal wrote: It's also worth noting that Uranus is a Greek god, not a Roman god.

It might also be worth noting that Uranus is the latin (Roman) version of the greek god Ouranos's name, not greek in itself.

Riamus · Post by **Riamus** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:13 pm

Hm... Sol isn't an official name? Are you sure? I know Luna, Terra, and Gaia are not. I was pretty sure Sol was official, though. Anyone know for certain (not think you know)

?

FF8Jake` · Post by **FF8Jake`** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:17 pm

Riamus wrote: Hm... Sol isn't an official name? Are you sure? I know Luna, Terra, and Gaia are not. I was pretty sure Sol was official, though. Anyone know for certain (not think you know) ?

You've been playing far too many RPGs, my friend.

ZoliveR · Post by **ZoliveR** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:35 pm

I thought that they discovered it many years ago but apparently not... We are exploring the whole universe with our big eyes since many decades and through many millions of light years and only now we discover our 10th planet in our solar system... That disappoint me...

Darth Wong · Post by **Darth Wong** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 2:21 pm

ZoliveR wrote: I thought that they discovered it many years ago but apparently not... We are exploring the whole universe with our big eyes since many decades and through many millions of light years and only now we discover our 10th planet in our solar system... That disappoint me...

It is hard to see things at great distances if they do not radiate light. That's why we can detect faraway stars but we cannot directly see planets in orbit around them. Instead, we measure Doppler shift in the light emitted by those stars to see if the stars are oscillating due to the effect of planetary gravity, and we conclude that there must be a planet.

iloserman · Post by **iloserman** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 4:30 pm

Riamus wrote: Hm... Sol isn't an official name? Are you sure?

Heimidal wrote: Gaia, Terra, Luna, Sol, etc are all names given by writers to enhance or beautify a given body's designation. They are by no means official.

Sol, as in El Sol is spanish for sun. Sooooooooo technically yes. It is the official name en espanol.

ILM

Riamus · Post by **Riamus** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 4:48 pm

Sol appears from looking into it to be the Roman name for the sun... not a mythological name (though it could be based within mythology just as the planets are).

Sol also means sun in Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and others.

Granted, NASA doesn't use it for Sun. They use it for a Martian solar day (according to Wikipedia).

Still, I'd consider it to be a true name for the sun and not just some, as was said, "rpg" name for it. It might not be an official name in English, but should not be considered to be a false name either.

Kazer0 · Post by **Kazer0** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 6:24 pm

Riamus wrote: Still, I'd consider it to be a true name for the sun and not just some, as was said, "rpg" name for it. It might not be an official name in English, but should not be considered to be a false name either.

Unfortunately, 'because you say so' is not a basis for naming stellar objects.

Heimidal · Post by **Heimidal** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 6:46 pm

Riamus wrote: Still, I'd consider it to be a true name for the sun and not just some, as was said, "rpg" name for it. It might not be an official name in English, but should not be considered to be a false name either.

That's like saying that Mars is only "Mars" in English. "Sun" is the officially assigned and recognized name of our Sun by the International Astronomical Union.

Deciding that the name of an interstellar body that thousands, if not millions, of other things orbit around isn't one specific name just because you say so isn't really a qualifier.

Riamus · Post by **Riamus** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:05 pm

Perhaps I used an incorrect word for what I meant. I did not mean that it was an official name by any means. I meant only that it was a legitimate name to use and not some made up name. Granted, I don't use Sol and never would.

I do wonder as to why Roman names for the planets survived, but the Roman name for the sun did not. Does anyone know?

Kazer0 · Post by **Kazer0** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:07 pm

Riamus wrote: I meant only that it was a legitimate name to use and not some made up name.

I'm renaming the sun to Andrew. Its a legitimate name to use, because it's not made up either.

Once again, 'because you say so' is not a legitimate basis for naming stellar objects.

iloserman · Post by **iloserman** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:10 pm

Kazer0 wrote:
Riamus wrote: I meant only that it was a legitimate name to use and not some made up name.

I'm renaming the sun to Andrew. Its a legitimate name to use, because it's not made up either.

Once again, 'because you say so' is not a legitimate basis for naming stellar objects.

I think you also missed Riamus' point. I don't think that people in Brazil, or Spain, [ Yes I do realize that one is porteagues, and the other spanish ], go around calling the closest star "The Sun", if I'm not mistaken it is "El Sol".

Granted it's not the Official name of the the celestrial object, but is it correct for them to refere to it as "El Sol" even though it is the Sun? I belive it is since it is General accpted. I think that is what he is getting at.

ILM

Riamus · Post by **Riamus** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:12 pm

It's not "because I say so." In at least 5 languages, it's the name for the sun. That makes it a legitimate use and not some "mythological" use as was mentioned previously. Or some "rpg" use as also was mentioned.

And that still doesn't offer any thoughts on why the planets retained their names and the sun did not. I really would be interested in knowing why that might be.

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