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.
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 .
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.
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
either of those options is a fair pick given their oldness
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
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.
“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.
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.
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That also just means “moon,” so no help there. Earth might as well be named “Planeta.”
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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
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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Yes, it is, in multiple languages.
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!
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.
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Just means “moon.”