How the planets got their names

CapAquaPis

Well-known member
The solar system's planets are named for mythological god figures, esp Roman and in one case, Uranus from the Greeks. The names carry weight in all types of astrology...like the closest planet to the sun is named for Mercury, the god of speed and flight. There are 8 planets (including Earth), but in astrology, our Moon, the closest star-the Sun and the dwarf planet Pluto are considered "planets".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sLod83ffXI
 

CapAquaPis

Well-known member
There's the proposed planetary name "Aether" for a very distant (theoretic, not yet discovered) planet in our solar system. Currently, 8 planets (including our Earth), plus demoted Pluto as a "dwarf" planet and 10 other classified "dwarf" planets or planetoids: Ceres, Chiron, Eris, Haumea, Ixion, MakeMake, Orcus, Quauor, Varuna and the farthest known: Sedna. The Moon is our natural satellite, but two others not seen by the naked eye: Lilith and Cruithne. And 4 Int'l Astronomers Union (IAU) named asteroids I know of: Eros, Juno, Pallas and Vesta.
 

waybread

Well-known member
The naked-eye planets and luminaries were named by the ancient Mesopotamians, who believed that they were gods. When astrology diffused to ancient Greece, they matched up the Mesopotamian gods with their own gods. Which wasn't hard, because the Greeks had previously adopted a lot of the Babylonians' mythology. The Babylonian planetary god Nergal, for example, was the god of warfare and drought. He morphed into the Greek god Ares, and the Roman Mars. Inanna became Ishtar and the Greek Aphrodite and Roman Venus.

By the time Uranus was discovered in 1781, there already was a community of European astronomers. William Herschel wanted to name it Georgium Sidus "George's planet" after George III, but astronomers from other countries objected.

The rationale went that in Hellenistic mythology, Uranus was the father of Saturn who was the father of Jupiter, who was the father of Mars and Venus. This order preserves the planets' distance from the sun.

Neptune and Pluto were also named by agreement among European astronomers. Today the International Astronomical Union is responsible for approving names of newly discovered heavenly bodies.
 

CapAquaPis

Well-known member
1-I or 'Oumuamua is theoretically the first interstellar object (a hyperbolic asteroid) in our solar system, named for the Hawaiian word for "very first scout", coming from the direction of the constellation Lyra (it's brightest star Vega, in UFOlogy is thought to be a hotbed of extraterrestrial civilization and life). After being 1AU in Aug and Oct 2017, perihelion in Sep. which means it was near our sun, it's expected to reach Jupiter's orbit in 2018 and Saturn's orbit in 2019, as well pass Neptune's territory in 2022 and leave our solar system in 20,000 years. Originally discovered as a "comet", 'Oumuamua was later reclassified as an asteroid. Probably originated from the Carina-Columba stellar association when in Lyra, that moved farther out in the galactic disc over the past billion years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ʻOumuamua
 
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CapAquaPis

Well-known member
I-1 or 'Oumuamua had a path started near the constellation Lyra within 0-5' Sagittarius degrees in Aug 2017, then moved opposite the ecliptic through Scorpio, Libra, Virgo, Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Aries and finally in Oct 2017, it left the ecliptic to venture into Pegasus near the Andromeda Galaxy at 25-29' Pisces degrees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ʻOumuamua#/media/File:Oumuamua-skypath.png

The ISO (Interstellar Object) didn't streak within the degrees of Aquarius and Capricorn, thus I'm convinced we entered the age of Aquarius with Capricornian traits and both signs ruled by Saturn (Capricorn's main ruler) and Uranus (Aquarius'). 'Oumuamua was near the eclipsed sun on Aug 21st visible in the USA, North America in the zodiac constellations Leo and later in the month (Sep 21st-Oct 1st), Cancer, with its closest approach to earth on Sep 9-10th in the left side of Leo. Note Leo and Cancer are opposite Aquarius and Capricorn.
 

JUPITERASC

Well-known member
Neptune and Pluto were also named by agreement among European astronomers.
On the morning of 14 March 1930
Falconer Madan, a former librarian at the University of Oxford’s library
was reading a newspaper article
to his 11-year-old granddaughter, Venetia Burney, over breakfast
David Hiskey explained for Mental Floss in 2012.
Madan mused that he wondered what the planet might be called
and Venetia chimed in, “Why not call it Pluto?”
Other potential names included Kronos, Minerva, Zeus, Atas and Persephone.

Upon Burney’s death at the age of 90 in 2009
William Grimes wrote for the New York Times
“Unbeknownst to Venetia, a spirited battle ensued
with suggestions flying thick and fast.
Minerva looked like the front runner, until it was pointed out
that the name already belonged to an asteroid.” :smile:

In May 1930, Burney’s suggestion
won a vote among astronomers at Lowell Observatory
and from then on, the far-flung “Planet X” was known as Pluto.
Burney’s story has been well documented in the popular press
 

JUPITERASC

Well-known member
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aldebaran

Well-known member
Heavenly bodies seem by naked eye were called by names & mythologies in many languages. Also the stars. It would be awesome if there was a web site gathering a lot of these.

In my ancestral language the Moon was called Iassy (Ia - our, Sy - Mother), literally "Our Mother".

The english word Jaguar comes from this language (Iaguara)

Stars were called Iassytatá (tatá - fire, so, "fires from our mother")
 

CapAquaPis

Well-known member
Eris, the largest dwarf planet (originally nicknamed Xena before the IAU declared the name to be Eris) was named as such due to its location further away from the Sun behind Pluto. It was named for a dark goddess known for discord, as well featured in astrology as one of business opportunities. Eris has an influence on Aries and Scorpio - signs ruled by Mars and Pluto, due to its dark and malevolent nature...and the air signs Gemini and Libra, as well compared to Sedna who may rule Pisces, Eris does the same for a gender-neutral "male" sign Aquarius.
 

CapAquaPis

Well-known member
Ultima Thule isn't a planet, it's a strangely-shaped Trans-Neptunian or Kuiper Belt object, has a 295 year orbit (further away in the solar system than pluto) and it's appropriately named for "outside the borders of the known world".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(486958)_2014_MU69

In 2019, Pluto switches orbits to be again further behind Neptune, they switch places in the solar system every 2 decades or 20 years. If we consider Ultima Thule as a planet (or appropriately, planteoid), it will have some astrological implications.
 

CapAquaPis

Well-known member
And the newest (dwarf) planet to be discovered and then named: Gonggong. Named for an ancient Chinese serpent-water goddess, I suppose Gonggong is about serpents, water and female energies. This is a total of 27 celestial bodies in our solar system that orbit around our Earth's closest star, the Sun or "Sol".
 

AJ Astrology

Well-known member
The solar system's planets are named for mythological god figures, esp Roman and in one case, Uranus from the Greeks. The names carry weight in all types of astrology...like the closest planet to the sun is named for Mercury, the god of speed and flight. There are 8 planets (including Earth), but in astrology, our Moon, the closest star-the Sun and the dwarf planet Pluto are considered "planets".

Hi CapAquaPis,

It was the Sumerians, actually. The Sumerian names were passed to the Akkadians, and that's a Semitic language on which Aramaic is based and Aramaic passed to the Greeks then the Romans.

For example, in Sumerian, Mummu is the messenger, hence the Greek Hermes and Roman Mercury.
 

CapAquaPis

Well-known member
I could include 4 more here: Ixion, Orcus, Quaoar and Varuna. And the Earth (true or lunar node/s in astrology). 33 overall in astrology, although greybeard is right about 10,000 total bodies are in the solar system.

Here are the list of the 33 to look over:
Main: 1. Sun, 2. Moon and 3. True or Lunar node (the opposite node too).
Inners: 4. Mercury, 5. Venus, 6. Lilith, 7. Cruithne, 8. Mars and 9. Ceres.
Outers: 10. Jupiter, 11. Saturn, 12. Chiron, 13. Uranus and 14. Neptune.
KBOs: 15. Pluto, 16. its moon Charon, 17. Eris, 18. Haumea, 19. Makemake, 20. Ixion, 21. Orcus, 22. Quaoar, 23. Varuna, 24. Gonggong and 25. Sedna.
Asteroids in astrology: 26. Eros, 27. Hygeia, 28. Juno, 29. Pallas and 30. Vesta.
Some say the ASC node, Part of Fortune and Vertex are useful in natal charts.
 

Humanitarian

Well-known member
I could include 4 more here: Ixion, Orcus, Quaoar and Varuna. And the Earth (true or lunar node/s in astrology). 33 overall in astrology, although greybeard is right about 10,000 total bodies are in the solar system.

Here are the list of the 33 to look over:
Main: 1. Sun, 2. Moon and 3. True or Lunar node (the opposite node too).
Inners: 4. Mercury, 5. Venus, 6. Lilith, 7. Cruithne, 8. Mars and 9. Ceres.
Outers: 10. Jupiter, 11. Saturn, 12. Chiron, 13. Uranus and 14. Neptune.
KBOs: 15. Pluto, 16. its moon Charon, 17. Eris, 18. Haumea, 19. Makemake, 20. Ixion, 21. Orcus, 22. Quaoar, 23. Varuna, 24. Gonggong and 25. Sedna.
Asteroids in astrology: 26. Eros, 27. Hygeia, 28. Juno, 29. Pallas and 30. Vesta.
Some say the ASC node, Part of Fortune and Vertex are useful in natal charts.
Centaurs: 31. Pholus, 32. Nessus, 33. Hylonome
TNOs beyond Sedna: 34. Leleiakuhonua
 
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