How do planets get their names?
Noways the discoverer of the planet proposes a name, and a committee of the International Astronomical Union approves it. In the past, the planets visible to the naked eye were named by ancient astronomers after local gods. When the first "new" planet was discovered in 1781, no one knew exactly how to name a planet. William Herschel, it's discoverer, wanted to name it after his patron, King George, "George's Star." Various other names were suggested until Bode suggested "Uranus," named after the Greek god of astronomy, Ouranos. Actually, if you give it the proper Greek pronunciation, Ooranus, it doesn't have the problems of either of the common English pronunciations: Your-Anus and Urine-us.
How do the planets get their names?
The planets' names come from the names of Roman gods. Mercury: the winged Roman god of travel; so named because the planet moves so swiftly. Mercury's Greek counterpart was Hermes. Venus: The goddess of love and beauty. Venus is the brightest planet from Earth and often appears brilliant and jewel-like in our morning or evening skies. The Greek version of Venus was Aphrodite. Earth: The name Earth comes from an Indo-European word: "er". It has mutated into many different words in various languages, but it always refers to the ground we stand on. Remember that the ancients did not believe the Earth was a planet like the ones that wandered amongst the stars at night. Moon: I know the Moon isn't a planet, but it did play prominently in stories told by ancient civilizations. Every civilization has had its own name for the Moon as well. The word Moon itself comes from Anglo-Saxon. Mars: The Roman god of war. The planet's red color apparently inspired the ancient Romans to think of blood. The Greek god of war was called Ares. TRIVIA: A brilliant red star in Scorpious is called Antares, a name that means "like Ares" or "like Mars". Jupiter: The ruler of all gods. In Greek, his name was Zeus. Neither the ancient Greeks nor the Romans could have had any idea that the planet they named after the king of gods was in fact the most massive planet in our solar system. Saturn: Cronos (the Greek version of Saturn) was the god of farming and the father of Zeus (Jupiter). Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto weren't known to the ancients. When they were discovered in 1781, 1846, and 1930, respectively, they were given the names of Roman and Greek gods out of a sense of tradition. Uranus: The Greek god of the sky. All of Uranus's moons are named for characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Neptune: The Roman god of the sea, known as Poseidon to the Greeks. Pluto: The Roman god of the underworld. His Greek counterpart is Hades.
How do planets and their moons get their names?
Astronomical naming conventions - Wikipedia
How did the planets get their names?
As Dustin Chiasson wrote, The names of our planets have Greco-Roman origins. They are named after the Roman gods and goddesses.Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were named by the Romans, as they were visible with the naked eye.Here is a list of the planets, their names, and reasoning for their names:Mercury: Closest to the sun, so orbited the quickest. Named after the Roman messenger god, who could fly.Venus: Shone the brightest in the sky. Named after the Roman goddess of beauty and love.Earth is actually a name with Germanic origin. Of course we had to make our own planet unique.Mars: Had a red color, reminiscent of blood to the Romans, so it was named after the god of war, Mars.Jupiter: The largest planet in the solar system, so it was named after the king of the gods, Jupiter.Saturn: The farthest planet easily visible with the naked eye. It was named after the god of agriculture in Roman mythology, Saturn. The Greek equivalent was Cronus (also spelled Kronos). Despite research, I have found no definitive reason for it being named after Saturn. In my opinion, it could be because Saturn/Cronus ruled in the “Golden Age,” (hence Saturn’s yellow color), or because it is an incredible planet, but still smaller than Jupiter (Saturn’s son Jupiter overthrew him).Uranus: Named by William Herschel. He discovered it in 1781, and the name was universally accepted by 1850. Herschel followed the Roman precedent of naming planets after Roman gods. It is named Uranus for the Roman god of the sky, I assume because of its sky-blue hue.Neptune: Named after the Roman god of the sea. It was a darker blue than Uranus, which, I assume, is why it was named after the god of the sea Neptune.Pluto: No longer a planet, but it followed the naming pattern. It was the farthest from the sun, cold and icy, like the god of the Underworld, Pluto.Sources: How Earth Got Its Name, Name of Uranus - Universe Today
How did the planet Venus get its name?
Venus derived its name from the Romans who religiously followed the Greek tradition. Venus is the Roman version of the Greek goddess, Aphrodite. The Roman and Greek goddess of love, beauty and fertility is Venus and therefore, the planet was named after her. Perhaps the fact that Venus is the brightest planet in the sky contributes to how it got its name. It is quite possible that the Romans found the brightness to be so enchanting that they felt it deserved to be named after the goddess of beauty and love. http://moonphases.info/how-venus...
How do stars and planets get their names?
Most of our commonly named planets derive from the Greek or Roman Gods, but some were probably know by other names in other cultures until they became generally accepted, There is now at accepted scientific cataloguing system (which I'm sure someone else will tell us, cos im a bit “thick” today) but sometimes they are named by the dicoverer, I'm pretty sure you can buy the rights to naming a discovered planet now…Hope this helpToodles xx
Do the names of each planet have any meaning?
As a matter of fact, they do. I’m going to give you the meaning of each of the 8 planets’ names, plus Pluto for good measure, from the International Astronomical Union’s listings.Mercury: “Named Mercurius by the Romans because it appears to move so swiftly.”Venus: “This planet was considered to be the brightest and most beautiful planet or star in the heavens. “Earth: “The name Earth comes from the Indo-European base 'er,'which produced the Germanic noun 'ertho,' and ultimately German 'erde,' Dutch 'aarde,' Scandinavian 'jord,' and English 'earth.'”Mars: “Named by the Romans for their god of war because of its red, bloodlike color.”Jupiter: “The largest and most massive of the planets was named Zeus by the Greeks and Jupiter by the Romans; he was the most important deity in both pantheons.”Saturn: “Roman name for the Greek Cronos, father of Zeus/Jupiter.”Uranus: “Herschel tried unsuccessfully to name his discovery "Georgian Sidus" after George III; the planet was named by Johann Bode in 1781 after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus, the father of Kronos (Saturn) and grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter). “Neptune: “Galle wanted to name the planet for Le Verrier, but that was not acceptable to the international astronomical community. Instead, this planet is named for the Roman god of the sea.”Pluto: “Named after the Roman god of the underworld who was able to render himself invisible.”Planet and Satellite Names and DiscoverersI hope this answers your question.
How did the seven planets get their names?
By tradition, the Greeks named the planets after their deities. Mercury appears swift, like Hermes. Venus shines brightly, like Aphrodite. Mars is red, which colour suggests blood and thus war and thus Ares.We use the Roman names, but that is where the tradition began.The tradition continued when William Herschel determined that a dim star was actually a planet which he named Uranus.The tradition stopped with the discovery of the Kuiper belt. Eris and Ixion are from Greek mythology. But Haumea, Quaoar, Sedna, and Makemake are not. We are still using mythological names, but now names outside of the Greek tradition.
What does the planets name venus mean?
Venus was the goddess of love
Why do new planets get such stupid names?
That planet is orbiting a small star that cannot be seen without a telescope, so it is referred to by catalog number. The star is called Gliese 581 because it is star number 581 in the Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars. I think the C means it is the 3rd (as in a=1, b=2, c=3) object associated with that star. There are millions of stars, and only a few hundred important ones even have a name. All the others are just referred to by catalog number. Some day, that star may get a real name. If it turns out to really be an inhabitable planet I bet it will get a real name.