• Question: Why are the solar system called weird names??

    Asked by anon-271260 on 20 Nov 2020.
    • Photo: Sam Geen

      Sam Geen answered on 20 Nov 2020:

      Planets in the Solar System are named after Roman gods and goddesses. When Herschel discovered Uranus* he wanted to call it George’s Star after the king, but nobody else agreed.

      * it’s still funny, yes

    • Photo: Zsolt Keszthelyi

      Zsolt Keszthelyi answered on 26 Nov 2020:

      Also, nowadays things are a bit more systematic. For example, stars have catalogue numbers as they are listed and counted. But planets were not back in the day. Interesting thing though: if you discover comets, they can be named the way you want. They will still get a number too, but you can say what you would like to name them.

Comments