Xena: The Next Planet???????

Question

Ever since we've been born (and before) people always trying to make us remember the 9 planets: Mercery, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. But now they spotted a new plantet- and it's 1.5 times colder than Pluto. They say it's as big as our moon. The one question i can't answer is why they named it after "Xena, the warrior princess" who look like a viking. Can anyone answer it? If u say "I don't know" then i will have to report you for not really answering my question.

Answer 1

Gender balance is an interesting explanation.

When names were given to the 4 moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo in 1610, three nymphs (Io, Callisto and Europa) and a handsome youth (Ganymede) were chosen.

Whilst there wasn't much astronomers could do about the names of the planets known to the ancients, they could have made a start on rebalancing the gender distribution, once Uranus was discovered. Minerva was in fact proposed as a name but Uranus was what the new planet proved to be allocated. If Minerva had got the job, I suppose we would be talking of Minervium-235 and Minervium-238 as the radioactive isotopes of element #92...

Minerva was a Roman goddess of crafts and wisdom. Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter and Metis. She was considered to be the virgin goddess of warriors, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, crafts, and the inventor of music.

Adapting Greek myths about Athena, Romans said that Minerva was not born in the usual way, but rather sprang fully armed from the brain of her father; this image has captivated Western writers and artists through the ages.

Minerva was worshipped throughout Italy, though only in Rome did she take on a warlike character. Minerva is usually depicted wearing a coat of mail and a helmet, and carrying a spear.

So a warrior goddess as a name for a planet is not entirely a new idea!

There were three other female candidates: Astraea, Cybele and Austräa.

In Greek mythology, Astraea ("star-maiden") was a daughter of Zeus and Themis. She and her mother were both personifications of justice. She ascended to heaven to become the constellation Virgo; the scales of justice she carried became the nearby constellation Libra.
Astraea's name was later allocated to an asteroid.

Cybele was a deification of the Earth Mother Cybele embodies the fertile earth, a goddess of caverns and mountains, walls and fortresses, nature, wild animals (especially lions and bees). Cybele's name, too, was later allocated to an asteroid.

Austräa was a goddess mentioned by Ovid

Finally Sedna, another candidate for status as a planet, In Inuit mythology, Sedna (Inuktitut "Sanna") is a sea goddess and master of the animals, especially mammals such as seals, of the ocean. She lives in and rules over Adlivun, the Inuit underworld. Sedna is also known as Arnakuagsak or Arnarquagssaq (Greenland) and Nerrivik or Nuliajuk (Alaska).

Answer 2

If you closely follow the naming system of other planets like Jupiter, Saturn and even remotely, Neptune, they are named after 'powerful warrior gods' therefore it seems logical that Xena(the warrior princess in Greek mythology) should be used for Planet X. To start a discussion or if you want to post any other messages, I would recommend astrowhiz on Yahoo Groups.

Answer 3

1) It is currently estimated to be 3,000km across, compared to our moon which is nearly 3,500km across and Pluto which is 2,360km across.

2) 2003 UB313 is only nicknamed Xena (it's moon is nicknamed Gabrielle). These are unofficial names until a real name is given to it. The discoverers have proposed a name, but the naming body for planeteray bodies have rules that mean the name cannot be revealed.

At the moment we are waiting to see if it going to be classified as a planet or not. The final vote as to whether it is a planet (and whether Pluto will have the mantle of planet taken away from it) is happening on 24 Aug 2006.

In summary, it will not be called Xena, but that is a great name.

Answer 4

Because of the whole concept of "Planet X" or the unknown tenth (Roman numeral X, the name Xena is well-known and starts with X), and also because out of all the planets, there is only one so far that has a feminine name, which is Venus. It is also for gender equality, from what I have heard.

Answer 5

Because the television syndicate bought temporary naming rights.

Did Xena look like a Viking? I thought she was supposed to be from an area near the Amazon tribes, which could have made her Scythian or Sarmation. The actress who played her, actually kind of looks like some of the Ukrainian women from that area today, even though Lucy Lawless is Kiwi.

Answer 6

Xena, much as I like it, is only a temporary name. Iirc, a definitive name will be decided upon by the International Astronomical Union this fall.

Answer 7

"Because we always wanted to name something Xena," Dr. Brown said.
crappy answer, huh?