Why do all the other planets and galaxies have cool names?

[sserafim]

And yet our planet is called "Earth", and our galaxy is called the "Milky Way". Pathetic. At least it's called the "Silver River" in Chinese…

 

[Deleted member 65988]

I have no idea but you're right, they have such cool names.

 

[Agon321]

Maybe some extraterrestrial civilizations call our galaxy something more epic.
I like the Latin name of our planet: "Terra".
The meaning is the same, but it sounds more proud. Like everything in Latin.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

We're the ones who named them. Maybe the people from the past were more mystified by the objects out in space seeing them as gods and that's why they got such cool names. Our planet's name on the other hand literally just means "dirt" because besides all the water we have that's mostly the only other thing they could see when they looked around. Just dirt and rocks.

 

[DarkRange55]

I believe the word Earth comes from German and Old English. Some are named after the astronomer who discovered them. Anyway, here's just a handful of examples but not every cosmic object has a great name:

The first quasar discovered is named 3C 273

NGC 3314 is a pair of overlapping spiral galaxies

NGC 256 (also known as ESO 29-SC11) is open cluster in the Tucana constellation

NGC 1783 (also known as ESO 85-SC29) is a globular cluster within the Dorado constellation

NGC = New General Catalogue

New General Catalogue - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

And yet our planet is called "Earth", and our galaxy is called the "Milky Way". Pathetic. At least it's called the "Silver River" in Chinese…

This is you:




"Eyarth"

 

[sserafim]

We're the ones who named them. Maybe the people from the past were more mystified by the objects out in space seeing them as gods and that's why they got such cool names. Our planet's name on the other hand literally just means "dirt" because besides all the water we have that's mostly the only other thing they could see when they looked around. Just dirt and rocks.

Earth is so plain and boring. I wish I could go to a different planet

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

OP you really got that grass is greener syndrome going on.

 

[sserafim]

OP you really got that grass is greener syndrome going on.

And so what if I do

I believe the word Earth comes from German and Old English. Some are named after the astronomer who discovered them. Anyway, here's just a handful of examples but not every cosmic object has a great name:

The first quasar discovered is named 3C 273

NGC 3314 is a pair of overlapping spiral galaxies

NGC 256 (also known as ESO 29-SC11) is open cluster in the Tucana constellation

NGC 1783 (also known as ESO 85-SC29) is a globular cluster within the Dorado constellation

NGC = New General Catalogue

New General Catalogue - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

This is you:




"Eyarth"

Well it's hard to beat "Draco", "Lyra", "Cygnus", "Vega", "Sirius", "Regulus", "Scorpius", "Antares", "Andromeda", "Cassiopeia", etc. Those names are so cool, yet we're stuck with "earth" and "Milky Way".

 

[Meteora]

Don't you like "earth"? I think it is a cool name..... @sserafim
Milky way... well the only thing I think of hearing that is chocolat.

 

[sserafim]

Don't you like "earth"? I think it is a cool name..... @sserafim
Milky way... well the only thing I think of hearing that is chocolat.

No, I think that "earth" is boring. It's a plain Jane. Why couldn't it have a Roman god name like the other planets? Some people call it "Gaia" but it's not colloquial or widespread.

 

[Sprite_Geist]

Perhaps "Blue Marble" could have been an alternative name for the planet Earth? I was also going to suggest "Blue Ball", but then I realized that this could have another unintended meaning.

 

[sserafim]

Perhaps "Blue Marble" could have been an alternative name for the planet Earth? I was also going to suggest "Blue Ball", but then I realized that this could have another unintended meaning.

What's the other unintended meaning?

 

[Sprite_Geist]

What's the other unintended meaning?

People could think that it is a reference to the term: "blue balls".

 

[sserafim]

People could think that it is a reference to the term: "blue balls".

I don't know what that means lol

 

[Sprite_Geist]

I don't know what that means lol

It is a lewd term. I do not wish to say anything more in case it takes this thread off of the topic. My first post was intended as some bad humor.

 

[Pluto]

If you're patient, the galaxy will be named Milkomeda.

 

[sserafim]

If you're patient, the galaxy will be named Milkomeda.

Wdym? Milky Way / Andromeda?

 

[DarkRange55]

If you're patient, the galaxy will be named Milkomeda.

Yes

 

[Pluto]

Milkomeda, Our Future Home | Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Galaxies frequently collide with one another, leaving evidence for their stupendous interactions nearly everywhere in the sky. Our own Milky Way galaxy, for example, is heading towards its nearest giant neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, at a rate of about 120 kilometers per second, and predictions...

www.cfa.harvard.edu

 

[sserafim]

Yes

They should just call all of it Andromeda because it sounds much better

 

[DarkRange55]

Wdym? Milky Way / Andromeda?

In approximately 4.1 billion years the Milky Way will collide with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy gravitationally bound (this occurred before dark energy took over). Our local supercluster is Laniakea. Also its not predicted to be the doomsday most people would imagine…

Andromeda–Milky Way collision - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Great YouTube channel, btw

It is a lewd term. I do not wish to say anything more in case it takes this thread off of the topic. My first post was intended as some bad humor.

I believe Carl Sagan coined the "pale blue dot " very powerful speech…

Pale Blue Dot - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

They should just call all of it Andromeda because it sounds much better

This reminds me of you

They should just call all of it Andromeda because it sounds much better

Also a great science YouTuber on physics topics

They should just call all of it Andromeda because it sounds much better

If you watched FireFly they refer to it as, "the Earth that was"

 

[leavingthesoultrap]

Another known name for earth is Gaia.
The ancient Egyptians named Milky way "The pool of cow's milk" and it was associated with their fertility cow headed goddess Hathor.
It used to sound sacred to Ancient people.

 

[LevUwU]

Our planet does have a cool name! In fact it has many cool names. Earth, Terra, Gaia, Sol III. Our galaxy gets it's name from ancient myths, I think that's cool enough for me.

 

[sserafim]

Our planet does have a cool name! In fact it has many cool names. Earth, Terra, Gaia, Sol III. Our galaxy gets it's name from ancient myths, I think that's cool enough for me.

Nothing is cool about "Earth" lol

 

[LevUwU]

Nothing is cool about "Earth" lol

The name of Earth comes from words that simply mean 'ground' I find that beautifully poetic that we named our planet as simply being 'The thing under our feet" :3

 

[falling_snow]

yall are overating latin and mythological names. WE SHOULD USE HAWAIIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS SO MUCH COOLER. DONT TELL ME LANIAKEA SOUNDS SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD