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vermin · 08-02-2005, 08:12 PM

A while back I heard that astronomers discovered a planet beyond Pluto, which they were calling Sedna. In the last two days I've seen multiple stories about a new object (possibly a planet) that may or may not be called Xena. All of them refer to this new discovery as a possible tenth planet. Did they forget about Sedna? Is its orbit inside of Sedna's so that Sedna becomes the 11th planet? Oddly they don't mention Sedna at all, just the new possible 10th planet. I'd post links, but you all know how to use Google better than I know how to post links. Incidently, in my job (designing telescopes) I usually refer to astronomers as astrologers because I know it annoys them. But I digress.

The other nine planets are named after Greek (or Roman) mythological figures. Sedna is from Inuit indian mythology, and Xena is from a crappy syndication only T.V. show with sapphic subtext.

The point of this thread:
Shouldn't a standard be established and then followed (regardless of pop culture trends) as far as planet naming goes? Instead of Sedna and/or Xena, wouldn't Hercules, or Periclese (sp?) or Diomedes or something more Greek-ish be a better choice for the next planet's name? Or do you think the discoverer should be allowed to name it whatever the hell they want (like with comets)?

Feel free to take this discussion off on tangents where no discussion has gone before.

08-02-2005, 08:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
vermin Indifferent to anti-matter Location: Tucson, AZ	Sedna? Xena? 10th planet? WTF? A while back I heard that astronomers discovered a planet beyond Pluto, which they were calling Sedna. In the last two days I've seen multiple stories about a new object (possibly a planet) that may or may not be called Xena. All of them refer to this new discovery as a possible tenth planet. Did they forget about Sedna? Is its orbit inside of Sedna's so that Sedna becomes the 11th planet? Oddly they don't mention Sedna at all, just the new possible 10th planet. I'd post links, but you all know how to use Google better than I know how to post links. Incidently, in my job (designing telescopes) I usually refer to astronomers as astrologers because I know it annoys them. But I digress. The other nine planets are named after Greek (or Roman) mythological figures. Sedna is from Inuit indian mythology, and Xena is from a crappy syndication only T.V. show with sapphic subtext. The point of this thread: Shouldn't a standard be established and then followed (regardless of pop culture trends) as far as planet naming goes? Instead of Sedna and/or Xena, wouldn't Hercules, or Periclese (sp?) or Diomedes or something more Greek-ish be a better choice for the next planet's name? Or do you think the discoverer should be allowed to name it whatever the hell they want (like with comets)? Feel free to take this discussion off on tangents where no discussion has gone before. __________________ If puns were sausages, this would be the wurst.