if they found a new planet and you could name it what would you call it?

Answer 1

The original idea of names from Roman and Greek mythology was all very well, but as the numbers of asteroids being discovered started to proliferate, at some point you run out of nymphs and godesses and have to look wider.

Others names were used —famous people, literary characters, the names of the discoverer's wives, children, and even television characters.

The first asteroid to be given a non-mythological name was 20 Massalia, named after the city of Marseilles. For some time only female (or feminized) names were used; Alexander von Humboldt was the first man to have an asteroid named after him, but his name was feminized to 54 Alexandra. This unspoken tradition lasted until 334 Chicago was named; even then, oddly feminised names show up in the list for years afterward.

As the number of asteroids began to run into the hundreds, and eventually the thousands, discoverers began to give them increasingly frivolous names. The first hints of this were 482 Petrina and 483 Seppina, named after the discoverer's pet dogs. However, there was little controversy about this until 1971, upon the naming of 2309 Mr. Spock (which was not even named after the Star Trek character, but after the discoverer's cat who supposedly bore a resemblance to him). Although the IAU subsequently banned pet names as sources, eccentric asteroid names are still being proposed and accepted, such as 6042 Cheshirecat, 9007 James Bond, or 26858 Misterrogers.

But for some classes of Small Solar System Bodies naming conventions still apply. Centaurs (asteroids orbiting between Saturn and Neptune) are all named after mythological centaurs, Trojans after heroes from the Trojan War, and trans-Neptunian objects after underworld spirits.

Bruce's charmingly unusual Aztec underworld gods should form an orderly queue and wait for the next TNO to be discovered and claim their place in the heavens.

And I thought Oxomoco was a great name, Unusual in having four Os, memorable as it reminds you of Mexico, and jaunty as it makes you smile when you say it,

Answer 2

If it was a boy planet, Vulcan.
If a girl planet, Persephone [goddess of the Underworld]

Then I'd re--name Jupiter as Snow White, and the rest after the Seven Dwarfs.

That would of course exclude Pluto, which is currently a "dwarf planet", so this would start confusing people enough to have another International Astronomers conference. :--)

Answer 3

There isn't a free hand in this. The IAU has naming conventions, requiring planets to have the names of mythological gods or goddesses.

We should have more female planet names. Venus is a bit of a token woman at the moment!

Minerva (the Roman goddess of War). It was a candidate name for Uranus but didn't get the job. Or Hera or Persephone.

But they don't have to be Roman or Greek gods, Sedna is the Innuit (Eskimo) goddess of the sea for example. So how about some Aztec gods?

Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl?

They are wonderfully complicated to pronounce, get a huge score at Scrabble, are full of character and really make you want to find out more about the mythology.

The IAU seem to like gods of the underworld, so how about Acolnahuacatl and Chalmecatecuchtli - the Aztec gods of the underworld? (I like the second one, its 3 Trochaic feet scan like "Chatanooga-Choo-Choo", and easy to remember, therefore)

Here is a selection of Aztec female deities:

Atlacamani - goddess of oceanic storms such as hurricanes

Ayauhteotl - goddess of mist, fog, vanity and fame

Chalchiuhtlicue - the goddess of lakes and streams

Chicomecoatl - goddess of new maize

Coyolxauhqui - associated with the moon, patroness of the milky way

Ilamatecuhtli - aged goddess of the earth, death, and the milky way. Her roar signalled war

Malinalxochi - goddess of snakes, scorpions and insects of the desert

Matlalceuitl - goddess of rainfall and singing.

Mictecacihuatl - goddess of death and Lady of Mictlan, the underworld

Omecihuatl - the goddess of duality, pregenator of souls and Lady of heaven

Oxomoco - goddess of astrology and the calendar

Temazcalteci - goddess of bathing and sweatbaths

Teteoinnan - mother of the gods

Tlaltecuhtli - goddess of earth, associated with difficult births

Tlazolteotl - the goddess of purification from filth, disease or excess

Xochiquetzal - goddess of female sexuality, prostitutes, flowers, pleasure, craft, weaving and young mothers,

Answer 4

Probably the catalog number of the star it was found around fallowed by a letter like a or b designating either the order in which it was discovered compared to other objects orbiting the star or it's orbit relative to other objects.

But that's just the boring astronomer in me

I'll nickname it Bob, for one of my favorite movies from childhood, Titan AE.

Answer 5

Pandora

Answer 6

i do no longer think of that this planet merits a popularity all of its very own, no longer a minimum of till we've the telescopes to verify the atmospheric composition of this worldwide, and notice if it has a similar circumstances that we do. may be incredibly embarrassing if it became into renamed to a minimum of a few thing enigmatic and awe-inspiring, in basic terms to locate its a ball of uninteresting rock without ecosystem of floor circumstances.

Answer 7

Pluto

Answer 8

Distant Land.

Answer 9

Invictus

Answer 10

Rider