this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2024
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Astronomy

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (5 children)

What are we going to name it when it is found?

I trust we really don't want "Planet Nine" (if we do, we should rename Earth to "Planet 3"), let alone "Planet X". Any better ideas?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think they should call it Nibiru to feed the conspiracy theories.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I had a roomate ten years ago who seriously believed in all that crap. Lizard people from the edge of the solar system here to claim our gold.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

If Mike Brown finds it, he'll jump all over naming it, and I'm sure that's part of his motivation for hunting it so doggedly. He's like that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

pluto was called planet X until it was discovered

[–] KISSmyOSFeddit 6 points 5 months ago

Let's call this one Planet Twitter, just to annoy Elon.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

With two exceptions*, the names are from Roman mythology. So I'd expect the new planet to get a definitive name from the same template. (Please be Janus. It's the gate of the solar system!)

*Uranus is from Greek mythology, with no good Latin equivalent. Terra is trickier; you could argue that it fits the template for Latin and the Romance languages, but most others simply use local words for soil, without a connection to the goddess. That is also called Tellus to add confusion.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Tellus would be a cool name for a planet, imo.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It would, indeed. I wouldn't mind if it was the scientific/"proper" name for Earth.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I would; it's too close to Telus (but pronounced the same), a terrible phone company where I live.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

How do you pronounce the company name? For reference, Latin "Tellus" would be /tɛllu:s/; the nearest English equivalent would be "TELL loos", I guess.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Tell-us, so more like it looks I guess.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

It will likely be a Greek or Roman name in keeping with tradition. The IAU generally let's the person/group that discovers have an influence in the decision but they're the final say on the name.