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I love that 'moon' is written under 'place.'
this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2024
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We're gonna have to make the Moon's name more specific if we ever survive long enough to colonize other planets. It's like if Earth's name were Planet.
Mün
That's taken. It's the larger of Kerbin's two moons.
We gotta rename Earth to Kerbin anyways. I mean, there are gotta be more planets that are made from earth.
It might be called Luna.
That also just means "moon," so no help there. Earth might as well be named "Planeta."
Humans already named objects within the solar system after Latin words and names. Earth would be called Terra, meaning "earth" or "land". Many sci-fi stories did this already lol. Luna is already reserved to Earth's Moon. The other "moons" in the solar system already have their names from Latin like Europa or Ganymede.
It's kind of funny how "Terra" and "Earth" are all synonymous with "Dirt". I wonder if every intelligent life form does this. If we eventually meet up with aliens, are we all going to be like: 'Yes, this is "Dirt", our beloved home planet.'
Problem is that Luna means moon (a planet's satellite) in romance languages like Spanish. If we're giving proper toponyms for the earth's satellite itself and its subdivisions, we should try and avoid generic names like Luna .
Then Lua!
It's also moon in Portuguese.
It’s over
ALL HAIL HOLY TERRA!
I'm pretty sure Luna, Terra and Sol are all poetic names that used in works of fiction but aren't used by actual organizations.
Other moon names like you listed are the scientific names, recognized and used by institutions like NASA.
Yes, but none of the others are named after exactly what they are. The Earth has a lot of earth on it, yes, but it's a planet, not a clump of earth. Using a non-English word for "moon" and assuming it's sufficient would be pretty lame and very English-centric.
We already call satellites orbiting a planet "moon", as in Europa is a moon of Jupiter. Or Phobos is a moon of Mars. But right now when we say moon, it usually means our moon.
You're right that in the future we would have to use a generic term for all extraterrestrial objects once we start colonising space. Which is why I think in the future, "moon" will become the catch-all term for the non-Earth moon, while we will call our own as Luna instead.
Then what will Spanish speakers call it?
My guess is we'll go the laziest route possible and "Earth's Moon" will be its formal English name.
Spanish speakers can call it Moon
Escusé moi your angloparlance, we call it Luna.
Did you forget to read the thread?
It's already named after ground.
Which isn't the same thing as a planet.
And "Luna" isn't the same thing as "moon".
Well, it is actually.
In Italian “Luna” means moon (any celestial object). Likewise, “Terra” means “Earth”.
I think Gaia, Greek Titan of Nature, would be a good fit for Earth’s name tbf
According to Wikipedia, Gaia's already an alternative name for the Earth. Also, Selene for the Moon and Helios for the Sun.
Which are all just the Greek words for earth, moon, and sun.
Yes, it is, in multiple languages.
Idk if it is necessery, we already named moons like "europe"
"Earth" literally just means "the dirt under your feet".
But most of us don't identify our location so broadly. We say what state or country we're in, and identify culturally that way. I imagine that won't change when there are people living on the Moon. They'll identify by the name of the base or settlement they live in.
There's another name for it already, Selene.
I thought it was Luna?
Luna is Latin for the moon
Selene is Greek for the goddess and personification of the moon
"The Moon" is it's actual name these days but either of those options is a fair pick given their oldness
I mean, yeah, many celestial bodies take their names from Latin. Like how the proper name of the sun is Sol, which matches solar, the lunar object would be called Luna. Selene feels like a retronym to match other Greek deities, and would be like renaming Earth to Gaia
Luna would definitely rank over Selene in the Western astronomical tradition. As you say, its name is just The Moon, which is what Luna means in many current day Latin derived languages
hell yeah, I'd be on board with that
Sure, but at that point we could rename it anything.
I'd be totally up with renaming out Tierra and Luna to something that is not eurocentric. Would be a nice change of pace against how much of immediate astronomy is caught up in remixes of Greek and Latin.
It's only Eurocentric in the Western tradition, and even then the names of many stars come from Arabic.
That might be a good choice!
Just means "moon."