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Our Solar System's Nomenclature Wars

Posted by simoniker on from the more-futurama-inspired-names-please dept.

RobotRunAmok writes "Plutinos, Centaurs, Cubewanos - the names Detroit has given some of their next gen SUVs? Nope. They are among the many colorful, and, some complain, confusing names which astronomers have given to celestial objects in the last decade. Ever wonder about the system of organization which astronomers use to name new space rocks? Apparently, so have many astronomers, because, according a Yahoo!/Space.com article, it's neither very systematic nor organized. Fear not: some clever star-minded chaps from Oxford and Cambridge have a plan to wring some order from the damp dishrag of astro-nomenclature chaos."

5 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Heh by B3ryllium · · Score: 4, Funny

    Been there, done that, got a QB10 t-shirt.

  2. Re:I suggest we rename everything by B3ryllium · · Score: 5, Funny

    Naw. Roman Numerals make it more fun; even better would be mapping hexadecimal to greek letters and using that.

    Omega Omega Epsilon!

    (2 million light-year distant quasar! :)

  3. I hate these kind of questions. by CGP314 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ever wonder about the system of organization which astronomers use to name new space rocks?

    No.

  4. Oh my. by CGP314 · · Score: 4, Funny

    The origin of the word "cubewano" is perhaps the most extreme example of nomenclative amusement among astronomers.

    Boy those astronomers are some crazy guys. I should invite them to my next rave.

  5. What about STs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ST = Space Thingies.

    Perhaps differentiated into:

    TSTs = Tiny space thingies.
    STSs = Small space thingies.
    MSTs = Medium space thingies.
    BSTs = Big space thingies.
    RBSTs = Really big space thingies.
    RRBSTs = Really, really big space thingies.
    RRBAQESTs = Really, really big, actually quite enormous, space thingies.