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Moons Can Have Their Own Moons and They Could Be Called Moonmoons (atlasobscura.com)

Two astronomers have asked a question for the ages: Can moons have moons? The delightful, if theoretical, answer is: Yes -- yes, they can. Sarah Laskow, writing for Atlas Obscura: As Gizmodo reports, this particular scientific inquiry began with a question from Juna Kollmeier's son. Kollemeier, who works at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, recruited Sean Raymond, of the University of Bordeaux, to help her answer the question. In a paper posted on arXiv [PDF], they lay out their case that moons can have moons. The conditions have to be right -- the primary moon has to be big enough and far away enough from the planet it's orbiting for the smaller, secondary moon to survive. But, even given these caveats, they found that moons in our very own solar system could theoretically have their own smaller moons. Two of Saturn's moons and one of Jupiter's are candidates. So is our favorite moon -- the Earth's moon.

[...] One of the great challenges of talking about recursive places is deciding what call them. The prefix "sub-" can do a lot of work here: We can islands within islands "subislands," and in the arXiv paper, Kollmeier and Raymond call a moon's moon a "submoon." But there are other options. New Scientist notes that "moonmoon" has been put forth as a name for a moon's moon. For those of us who are less than fluent in meme culture: This is a reference to Moon Moon, sometimes described as the internet's derpiest wolf. Moon Moon was born in 2013, from a werewolf name generator, and soon started frolicking across Tumblr and all other places memes can be found.

168 comments

  1. Balls can have their own balls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    And they could be called ballsballs

    1. Re:Balls can have their own balls by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      And they could be called ballsballs

      "That's no moonmoon!"

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    2. Re: Balls can have their own balls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's balls all the way down!

    3. Re: Balls can have their own balls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a space space station !

  2. I for one, by planckscale · · Score: 2

    Welcome CowboyNeilCowboyNeil

    --
    Namaste
    1. Re:I for one, by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Welcome CowboyNeilCowboyNeil

      Well I for one, would rather not see his moonmoons.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  3. Um... by Kargan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...no.

    --
    Palaces, barricades, threats, meet promises
    1. Re:Um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agree. Baby talk is for babies.

      Moons of moons should be called submoons.

      And moons of submoons should be called subsubmoons.

      Er, wait...

    2. Re:Um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...no.

      Damn! Here I thought, "What a cool thing about nature thought up by trained astronomers!" only to have my hopes dashed by a Slashdotter - who, as we all know, are experts in everything.

      Sean Raymond, of the University of Bordeaux.

      Bordeaux? That explains everything! We all know that the French just sit around drinking wine, eating cheese and smoking outside of cafes.

      It's a good think I come here and read the comments because I'd be so uninformed and ignorant otherwise!

    3. Re:Um... by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      "Moonmoon"!? WTF?

      Do they come with eggroll?

      Seriously, "sub-moon" or "secondary/tertiary moon" weren't good enough?

      I thought these guys were writing stuff for scientific journals, not the Urban Dictionary.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    4. Re:Um... by Aereus · · Score: 2

      Damnit, Moonmoon!

    5. Re: Um... by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      What's wrong with "moonlet?"

    6. Re: Um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Semidemimoons!

    7. Re: Um... by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

      Moonlet strongly implies a small moon. Submoon could lead people to think that too but not as much. Given that we believe there's an exomoon the size of Neptune, it could perhaps have a moonmoon the size of Earth -- or at least the Earth's moon. So these aren't necessarily small objects.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
    8. Re: Um... by tquasar · · Score: 1

      Moon Unit Zappa.

    9. Re:Um... by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      This is absolutely ridiculous.

      There is only one Moon.

      It is a satellite of Earth.

      True, people have tended to call other satellites "moons" as sort of an incorrect shorthand; but it is indeed incorrect.

      "Moon" is the name of Earth's satellite. The others are also called satellites. But they have their own names (like Earth's does).

      Titan is not a moon. It is the name of one of another planet's satellites.

    10. Re:Um... by quenda · · Score: 2

      This is absolutely ridiculous.
      There is only one Moon.

      How did you cope when you were a toddler and found there were other "Mommy"s in the world? (Mom became "my Mom").

      In English, we clearly say "the Moon" or "a moon", not "Armstrong landed on Moon", though the man himself is not a top authority on the correct use of articles.

    11. Re: Um... by davidshenba · · Score: 1

      Are you a musician?

    12. Re:Um... by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      So how do you tell the difference between Titan and Hubble, then? They are both satellites, after all. Also, according to some definitions, Earth is a satellite of the sun. Depends which dictionary you open.

      The word "moon" is a commonly accepted term for natural satellites orbiting planets. If you want to talk about our moon specifically, use "the Moon" with a capital M, or "Luna".

    13. Re:Um... by f3rret · · Score: 1

      So how do you tell the difference between Titan and Hubble, then? They are both satellites, after all. Also, according to some definitions, Earth is a satellite of the sun. Depends which dictionary you open.

      The word "moon" is a commonly accepted term for natural satellites orbiting planets. If you want to talk about our moon specifically, use "the Moon" with a capital M, or "Luna".

      Yeah all the "society on The Moon" sci-fi writers just LOVE calling The Moon "Luna."
      Guess it sounds fancier.

      --
      Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
    14. Re:Um... by houghi · · Score: 1
      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    15. Re:Um... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Seriously, "sub-moon" or "secondary/tertiary moon" weren't good enough?

      I thought these guys were writing stuff for scientific journals, not the Urban Dictionary.

      I would have gone with "Satellite" myself. We already have a word for small bodies in space that orbit another.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    16. Re:Um... by cyberchondriac · · Score: 1

      Damnit, Moonmoon!

      I came here just for this.

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
    17. Re:Um... by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 1

      The person covering the story left ten minutes too early. They missed when the FBI raided the place and arrested one of the people involved. His name was Antonio Geovanni. In the mafia he goes by the name "Tony Two Times"

    18. Re:Um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He was probably reacting to the name "moonmoons" rather the scientific validity of the study.

      Think it through before attacking someone, you prattling twat.

    19. Re:Um... by WeeBrowser · · Score: 1

      I recommend "Minion" or at worst "Moonion".

    20. Re:Um... by necro81 · · Score: 1

      "Armstrong landed on Moon", though the man himself is not a top authority on the correct use of articles

      Well played, sir.

      (or madam)

    21. Re:Um... by necro81 · · Score: 1

      There is only one Moon.

      This is my Moon.
      There are many like it, but this one is mine.

    22. Re: Um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Quavering with delight!

    23. Re: Um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Earth's satellite has a name but it's not "Moon" you idiot, it's "Luna".

      If you're going to be an insufferable prick, then at least be correct.

    24. Re: Um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "exomoon the size of Neptune"

      What?

      I think you mean there is a "large exoplanet with a moon the size of Neptune". Yes?

    25. Re: Um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eyuup.

      https://www.universetoday.com/140175/first-exomoon-found-a-neptune-sized-moon-orbiting-a-jupiter-sized-planet/

    26. Re: Um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are wrong. The name of the earth's moon is Luna.

    27. Re:Um... by quenda · · Score: 1

      Thanks, nice to know it wasn't completely obscure.

      But did you just assume I was binary gendered? :)

  4. Moon or satellite? by MSG · · Score: 4, Informative

    Don't astronomers usually refer to them as satellites? I always though "moon" was the name of the Earth's satellite, specifically.

    1. Re: Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why don't you have respect for what the moon people call there home? Racist.

    2. Re:Moon or satellite? by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Don't astronomers usually refer to them as satellites? I always though "moon" was the name of the Earth's satellite, specifically.

      If uninitialized, "moon" is an interchangeable synonym for satellite. When capitalized, It refers specifically to the Earth's moon. Likewise, when "Satellite" is capitalized, it refers to a particular model of automobile produced by Plymouth in the 1960s.

    3. Re: Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least you know exactly what a moonmoon is when you hear it. I will believe this story when I see it with my own two eyes.

    4. Re:Moon or satellite? by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 1

      "uninitialized": score another win for auto-correct

    5. Re: Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about Luna? Doesn't get much play lately...

    6. Re: Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, autistic is what scientists call you, but no clue about the rest of that shit.

    7. Re:Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know they are also called moons right? Never heard of jupiter's moons?

    8. Re:Moon or satellite? by MMC+Monster · · Score: 1

      I always thought the name of our moon was Luna.

      Just like the name of our sun is Sol.

      Learn something new every day.

      --
      Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
    9. Re:Moon or satellite? by sexconker · · Score: 1

      A moon is a large, spheroid satellite of a planet. Yes, "large" and "spheroid" are vague, deal with it. I'd also argue that a "moon" should be natural in composition, but perhaps not in origin (maybe you tow another planet's moon to your planet).

      The name of our moon is Luna. Luna orbits (the Barycenter between itself and) Terra.
      Alternatively, you can call it "Earth's moon", "our moon", or, in context, "the moon".

    10. Re:Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok then, they are satesatellites.

    11. Re:Moon or satellite? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Don't astronomers usually refer to them as satellites? I always thought "moon" was the name of the Earth's satellite

      Yes, but "satellitesatellites" is even uglier than moonmoons.

      By the way, you are all a bunch of Space Cows: Space Cows say moooonmoon. Say moooon you mooning mooers!

    12. Re: Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's just rename everything to Spaceballs and get an entertaining copyright suit out of it.

    13. Re:Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah...well, fuck you and your logic / reason / sanity. As they proved with the whole Pluto debacle, any sane nomenclature scheme is now out the window. Hello Moony Mc Moon face!

    14. Re:Moon or satellite? by pauljlucas · · Score: 1

      Sadly, no. Luna is just the Latin word for moon. The words were created before Galileo discovered that there were other moons.

      --
      If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
    15. Re:Moon or satellite? by pezezin · · Score: 1

      Phobos and Deimos are neither large nor spheroidal in shape...

    16. Re: Moon or satellite? by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      At least you know exactly what a moonmoon is when you hear it. I will believe this story when I see it with my own two eyes.

      You mean your one eyeeye?

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    17. Re:Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Our sun is referred to as Sol in science fiction and by the Romans historically, but it is not a strictly-defined name. If someone were to ask you what the star at the center of our solar system is called, there's only one universally accepted name: the Sun.

    18. Re:Moon or satellite? by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      The International Astronomical Union was formed in 1919 in part because of the need for systematic names and definitions (like constellation boundaries) that had become urgent with the advent of astrophotography that was generating huge amounts of sky maps. At its founding it officially confirmed the designation we use for the known planets, and the Moon. But not the Sun. It does however in its various materials use "Sun" as the name for the Sun, including labeling its official symbol for the Sun, and this is the default name for the Sun in science. But Spanish, Portuguese, or Swedish scientists often use Sol, their native language use for Sun (as would presumably any native Latin speakers, if there were any). I don't know if Chinese scientists use the Chinese name for Sun or not*.

      *This is a joke (since Chinese uses ideograms).

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    19. Re:Moon or satellite? by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      The name of our moon is Luna. Luna orbits (the Barycenter between itself and) Terra.

      Luna is the Latin name for the Moon, but the IAU adopted the English name as its official designation in 1919. They also adopted the Earth for the Earth (but no official name for the Sun, though it uses the Sun in its publications).

      If you we were still using Latin as our scientific language they would of chosen Terra and Luna, but they didn't.

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    20. Re:Moon or satellite? by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      Phobos and Deimos are neither large nor spheroidal in shape...

      Right. Neither sphericity nor size counts in making something an astronomical moon. Which is why once we got space telescopes and adaptive optics and interplanetary probes talking about "how many moons does it have" for any of the gas giants became a pointless exercise.

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    21. Re:Moon or satellite? by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      I too miss the cow spam.

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    22. Re:Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Tyrannosaurus Rex is just Latin for "Tyrant Lizard King", but that doesn't mean it's not the name of a specific species. Likewise, Luna has become the specific name of the moon around Earth (which just means "dirt" but is also one of the names of the specific ball of dirt we inhabit).

    23. Re:Moon or satellite? by novakyu · · Score: 1

      No, "moon" is a word for natural satellite. Artificial satellites (like what we usually call "satellite") are never called "moon".

    24. Re: Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your joke makes no sense. You know the Chinese still have words, right?

    25. Re:Moon or satellite? by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 1

      But a natural satellite is also often called simply a "satellite", making it interchangeable with "moon" in this context, as I originally said.

    26. Re:Moon or satellite? by novakyu · · Score: 1

      No, you got it completely backward. Just because a dog is an animal doesn't mean an animal is a dog. "Satellite" is the most encompassing term (once again, acknowledging most people mean artificial satellite when they say "satellite" in everyday language). You never say that "International Space Station is a moon around the Earth."

    27. Re:Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fun fact, the name for our galaxy is the Galaxy.

    28. Re:Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More to the point, we now know Pluto (is it a planet again, yet?) has moons (ok, satellites) which also have significantly sized rocks (satellites) orbiting them.
      So I personally don't feel the need for a sub-moon, a moonlet or moonmoon. A lump of rock orbiting another is called a satellite. So why not call Earth a satellite of the Sun? It is a difficult one, Planet makes sense because of its dependence on the Sun (star). But what of a binary or trinary star system? There's no clear "owner" there, as its shared ownership. We associate the planet with which ever star it orbits.
      I'm just paining a picture of systems within systems. As a software developer, I happily accept satellite, and its inferred association with some other significant body.
      You know what's going to happen next - we'll find a star with a failed star planet, which has a moon that has a moon, that has a moon.
      What will we call that? moonmoonmoon? a moon3? a subsubmoon? how about a submoonlet?? i doesn't scale. Stop asking stupid questions, astronomers! Stop naming things that don't need names.

    29. Re:Moon or satellite? by f3rret · · Score: 1

      You know what's going to happen next - we'll find a star with a failed star planet, which has a moon that has a moon, that has a moon.
      What will we call that? moonmoonmoon? a moon3? a subsubmoon? how about a submoonlet?? i doesn't scale. Stop asking stupid questions, astronomers! Stop naming things that don't need names.

      It's moons all the way down dude.

      Alternatively moon^3

      turns out slasdot doesn't know what to do with the sup-tag.

      --
      Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
    30. Re: Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In English, you mean. Hardly universal.

    31. Re:Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't astronomers usually refer to them as satellites? I always though "moon" was the name of the Earth's satellite, specifically.

      Except that many of the planets in our solar system have moons, and this has been known for a very long time.

      We've got The Moon, but in the grand scheme of things, it's just a moon.

      I've never heard the term moon limited to only our moon ... hell, I bet you know what the Third Moon of Endor is, so why would you think the only moon is *our* moon?

    32. Re:Moon or satellite? by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 1

      But this entire topic isn't talking about artificial satellites at all. You're the one who brought that up.

      In astronomy, satellite and moon are the same. This article is about astronomy.

    33. Re:Moon or satellite? by novakyu · · Score: 1

      Look, I'm not going to bother responding to someone who cannot understand definitions. Talk to anybody with an astronomy degree; a moon is a satellite, and a satellite may not be a moon.

    34. Re:Moon or satellite? by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 1

      I can play your OCD game too:

      If someone pull their pants down and shows you their bare ass, that's not a satellite. So you're wrong: a moon is not necessarily a satellite.

    35. Re:Moon or satellite? by sexconker · · Score: 1

      I already told you:

      Yes, "large" and "spheroid" are vague, deal with it.

      Are you dealing with it?

    36. Re:Moon or satellite? by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Who gives a shit what the IAU says, or worse, what they said before and what they'll say next week?

      Terra, Luna, and Sol. Suck it.

    37. Re: Moon or satellite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because people don't have much education these days.

      Sure, plenty of titles and letters and what-not, but very little substance.

  5. why not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    moomins?

    1. Re:why not by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      moomins?

      They live in Norway.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    2. Re:why not by RickyShade · · Score: 1

      Or moonies, or moonites?!

    3. Re:why not by pezezin · · Score: 1

      More like Finland.

    4. Re:why not by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      I thought they lived in the realm of Faerie ...

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  6. Meta moon by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

    Surely these should be meta moons?

    1. Re:Meta moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The real question is can the moonmoons have moons and are they called moonmoonmoons or moonmoonmoonmoons?

    2. Re:Meta moon by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      Muns

      And don't call me shirley.

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
  7. One moon by Aethedor · · Score: 1, Informative

    There is only one Moon, the satellite circling around the planet Earth. All other astronomical object we refer to as moons are satellites. And no, the electronical satellites we bring into orbit are actually called 'artifical satellites'. So, moomoons makes no sense at all.

    --
    It doesn't have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.
    1. Re:One moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This sounds like something Trump made up in realtime and someone on a congressional staffer IP address edits wikipedia makes it real, like the "drinking game" "devils triangle" or other boofer buffoonery.

  8. BabyBabies by SurenEnfiajyan · · Score: 1

    Babies can later have their own babies and they could be called BabyBabies.

  9. Space pirates love moon moons by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    They say "Pie Arrrrrr Squared!" whenever they see a moon moon, because that's the custom.

    Orbit like a Pirate Day.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:Space pirates love moon moons by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      And have yerself a sandwich and cold one at Space Arrrrrrrby's.

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
  10. More like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    It should be mormoons. They're the ones that have multiple satelwifes

    1. Re:More like by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      This is rather funny.

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
  11. Never heard of this meme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So I looked it up, and I now know why I'd never heard of it.

    It sucks, and isn't even funny.

  12. Oh yeah?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yo dawg! Moonmoonmoons

  13. HighDea by DatbeDank · · Score: 1

    I swear one of my stoned physicist friends said something similar about a second order lunar body.

  14. MoonPies by thrillseeker · · Score: 1

    dammit

  15. Astronomers missed a great opportunity... by MAXOMENOS · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...because most of them don't know enough Latin.

    Instead of Moonmoon, they could call them luna lunae, which means, "moon of moon."

    This could give them endless opportunities for singing a rock classic.

    Luna lunae
    Whoa baby
    Sayin, me gotta go
    Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah....

  16. So like Mormons then. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They a crazy type. A dozen wives? That's stupid. One wife (tops) and THEN a dozen concubines.

  17. It's been done before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/moon-moon

  18. Siphonaptera by thomst · · Score: 1

    The question itself reminds me of the first two lines of Augustus De Morgan's poem Siphonaptera:

    Big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
    And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so, ad infinitum.
    And the great fleas, themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on;
    While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.

    (All four lines quoted here, because, of course they are ... )

    --
    Check out my novel.
  19. SubPlanet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I propose we call moons subplanets or subdwarfplanets and submoons subsubplanets or subdwarfplanetsubplanet, subplanetsubplanet, or subdwarfplanetsubdrawfplanet. I further propose that if two planets orbit a central point the can be coplanets, codwarfplanets, etc.

    1. Re:SubPlanet by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Dwarf planet? DWARF planet? How planetist of you! They prefer to be called differently massed planets, you bigot...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  20. There is precedent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A baby bassoon is called an oboe, so a baby moon is an omo.

    1. Re: There is precedent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a bassoonist, I resent this misinformation

    2. Re: There is precedent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a barsoomist?!? What do they call omoes there?

  21. Can I be the first to suggest... by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    That satellites orbiting satellites orbiting satellites be called "moonmoonmoons"?

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  22. Just like... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just like Bons can have their own Bons...

  23. Bigger moons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bigger moons have little moons, that orbit just to spite 'em, and little moons have lesser moons, and so, ad infinitum.

    1. Re:Bigger moons by ole_timer · · Score: 1

      +1 (would have been +2 if it ended with "...and so on, ad infinitum..." but I repeat myself

      --
      nothing to see here - move along
  24. Nomenclature by EnsilZah · · Score: 1

    We already have a generic name for a thing that orbits another thing and it's 'satellite'.

    We've had the terms 'moon' and 'sun' and 'stars' and 'planets' long before we understood orbital mechanics, and it's useful to have distinct names for things we refer to often.

    But would 'moonmoon' actually convey any useful information, would it make understanding what another person is saying clearer?
    Sounds to me like an attempt to add unnecessary complexity that won't be useful for actual professional discussion and would be irrelevant for the lay person beyond serving as a piece of amusing trivia.

    1. Re:Nomenclature by Xenx · · Score: 1

      Except, the average layperson refers to natural satellites as moons. The moons of . I'm not saying moonmoon is the right answer, but there will be a lay term for the moon of a moon.

  25. India already has Moonmoon Sen! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    India already has Moonmoon Sen!

  26. Maybe they should check their work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NASA has known for decades that lunar orbits are unstable due to the Earth's tidal influence and mascons making the Moon's gravitational field irregular.

  27. I'm thinking the moon of a moon... by roc97007 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...Is called "a moon". Think about it -- let's say you're living on an earth-sized rocky moon orbiting a super-Jupiter, and the moon on which you live has a moon. So you think you and your girl are sitting on the bleeflap of your gringleblop looking up at that shiny object in the sky and you're going to say, oh, look at the moonmoon? No, you're going to say, oh, look at the moon. It reflects wonderfully in your infuscate faceted seeing-patches. Only astro-geeks and pedants will insist on "moonmoon". And they don't get dates, so it's a mootmoot point.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    1. Re:I'm thinking the moon of a moon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oh, look at the moon. It reflects wonderfully in your infuscate faceted seeing-patches

      The sun is a bit dim, but that distant star at the center of our miniature galaxy is making the moon shine brightly.

    2. Re:I'm thinking the moon of a moon... by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      oh, look at the moon. It reflects wonderfully in your infuscate faceted seeing-patches

      The sun is a bit dim, but that distant star at the center of our miniature galaxy is making the moon shine brightly.

      Yes, precisely like that.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    3. Re:I'm thinking the moon of a moon... by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      And that is why vampires should not be able to come out at all, even at night; unless the sky is totally overcast or it is new moon.

      The moonlight is still sunlight after all, even when reflected onto us; so moonlight should snuff out a vampire as easily as sunlight.

      Science vs the supernatural. Science wins, bitches. (But it rarely wins bitches)

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
    4. Re:I'm thinking the moon of a moon... by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      Brilliant observation.

      > (But it rarely wins bitches)

      Sadly, true.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    5. Re:I'm thinking the moon of a moon... by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      I took the time to look this up (man, that's geeky...) and moonlight contains considerably less UV vs visible light, than direct sunlight. So maybe vampires are allergic to UV?

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  28. The Elephantelephant in the Roomroom. by Pezbian · · Score: 2

    I guarantee Moony McMoonface will come up at some point. Probably already has.

    --
    In a world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king--and the two-eyed man is a heretic.
  29. Death Stars by pr0t0 · · Score: 2

    Obviously the official name should be "Death Stars" because when you look at a satellite in orbit around another satellite, you can clearly see "that's no moon."

    Also, agreed, "moonmoon" is absurd.

    --
    I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
  30. moon, mooon, moooon.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    recursion level -1?

  31. moonÂ, moonÂ, moonâ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    moon^n ...

  32. We can. by sheramil · · Score: 1

    The prefix "sub-" can do a lot of work here: We can islands within islands "subislands,"

    We can? I'm glad.

    Why do so many people have a blind spot when it comes to verbs? "I accidentally the whole planet".

    1. Re:We can. by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      "Can" is perfectly valid as a verb. In the used context, the sentence would read: "We store islands within islands, 'subislands'." Of course, that's missing a comma. A far more likely case isn't using "can" as a verb, and nor is it an omitted verb, but instead a typo of the word "call". Given "call"'s typographic similarity to "can", the mistake be missed in editing.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
  33. Cat's got my tongue by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "...and soon started frolicking across Tumblr..."

    No wonder the social media world is so retarded.

  34. Guilty! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Greetings, asshole! You have been found guilty of HYPOCRISY.

    "Electronical" isn't a word and never has been. So instead of bitching about semantics, syntax, and how stinky this article is, shove your head directly up you own ass and take a monster whiff of the bullshit baby you're about to birth.

  35. That's a stupid name. by freeze128 · · Score: 1

    "I shall call him... Mini-moon!"

    1. Re: That's a stupid name. by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Only thing dumber and unfunnier was 'Dude, Where's My Car?' - makes 'Hangover' and 'Super Troopers' seem brilliant by comparison (tho perhaps not their sequels...)

    2. Re: That's a stupid name. by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      (And while I'm ranting... anybody who thinks 'Talladega Nights' qualifies as comedy needs to take their AR or concealed carry and shoot themself in the toe.)

    3. Re: That's a stupid name. by f3rret · · Score: 1

      (And while I'm ranting... anybody who thinks 'Talladega Nights' qualifies as comedy needs to take their AR or concealed carry and shoot themself in the toe.)

      You have weirdly strong feelings about harmless movies.

      --
      Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
  36. Moon Moon by sexconker · · Score: 1

    Moon Moons are huskies (the dogs). Not moons.

  37. Just came in... by The+Original+CDR · · Score: 1

    Bloomberg is reporting that Pluto is a planet made in China.

    1. Re:Just came in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      creimer managed to get lost users to mod him up +5 with a one-liner with "Bloomberg" in it on Wednesday, see here:
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      So what does the dumb troll do? Post another one liner with "Bloomberg" in it!

      Fresh! Breaking news from CNN:

      Christopher Dale Reimer (aka creimer, The Original CDR, etc.) has been identified by JSOC as a Russian troll.

      The Reimer family is typically from the Eastern part of Germany and it has been found that Chris have maintained contacts with homeland influencial people.

      I would like to point out that East Germany was communist and controlled by Russia (CCCP) before Ronald Reagan took USSR apart.

      I can confirm this is true, see creimer East German beard pictures below:

      Creimy's real pictures:
      Before the sex change:
      https://ibb.co/cc7Ddw
      After the sex change:
      https://ibb.co/gVad65

      And his obviously nazi father picture here, he converted to communism after the war:

      https://ibb.co/mHCKB9

      Send creimer to Gitmo at once!

    2. Re:Just came in... by The+Original+CDR · · Score: 0

      creimer managed to get lost users to mod him up +5 with a one-liner with "Bloomberg" in it on Wednesday, see here:

      That's my comment, not creimer's comment. If you want to see creimer's comments, you can find him here.

    3. Re:Just came in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you Chris, err CDR! It's very thoughtful that you're always there to reply to Chris's comments and provide a link to Chris! Since you're not Chris!

      You have completely and totally convinced me that you're not Chris. You are some mysterious stranger that somehow always manages to be around and knows that "Chris" is actually a user called "creimer". You must know that by coincidence.

    4. Re:Just came in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The link is for a user with no comments.

    5. Re:Just came in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What does that have to do with the name, oh mysterious AC who totally isn't Chris yet uses the same kind of irrelevant misdirection logic?

      https://slashdot.org/~__aaclcg...

      creimer was here.

    6. Re:Just came in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      creimer was here.

      If that is true, why are you here alone?

  38. [Moonmoon] Re:Um... by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Funny

    Kiss my fat [pale] assass.

    Next up, recursive Uranus jokes, with Beowulf clusters of turtles all the way down.

  39. Wrong name by albeit+unknown · · Score: 1

    This was settled a long time ago. Everyone knows it's a Space Station.

  40. So what you're saying is ... by jdavidb · · Score: 2

    ...that's no moon?

  41. Que the meme by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 0

    Yo dawg, I heard you liked moons, so I got you a moon for your moon so you can swoon over your moon's moon!

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  42. Apps can app other apps by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and they're called app apps!

    Apps!

    1. Re: Apps can app other apps by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AppsApps guy! We miss you around here! Where have you been? It's been so boring without you lately!

  43. That's that's no no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Moonmoon!

  44. Obligatory XKCD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    XKCD on how things should be named...
    https://xkcd.com/2043/

  45. waste of time, cont. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    if, as we have been told, the universe is infinite or, the number of universes is infinite, ANY combination of matter and energy is possible. how about a moon orbiting a planet orbiting a planet orbiting a star? orbiting a star? which is a trinary system? with a moon that has no relation to this conversation? what is a star? what is a planet? a uranus size moon orbits a jupiterX6 planet, lets see how long it is before we find out that that moon has moons, and those moons have moons, and those moons have moons, etc.? is pluto a dwarf? or a planet? somewhere in that juicy oort cloud, or the lightly baked kuyper belt,there may be objects we have yet to even consider, and on the other side of sag there are things that have been there all along, but for which we have no language for. i understand classification is useful, but it's still being applied like assembly lines from wwii being used for beef production. give it up and open your fscking mind.

  46. Mooninites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hello, Carl, I am Ignignokt and this is Err. We are Mooninites from the inner core of the moon.

    1. Re: Mooninites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Moons within moons, circles within circles, the pixelated heart pulses and suddenly a mooninite is born middle fingers first.

  47. Moonmoon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So as a verb, if one moonmoons, is that a double eclipse of the fart?

  48. Prime notation by oobayly · · Score: 1

    I can't be the only person to consider prime notation like in calculus for derivatives, eg moon, moon', moon'', etc.

  49. Re:Morons who orbit traitor Trump by Calydor · · Score: 1

    You missed such a perfect chance to type 'moronmoron'.

    At least the appers and luddites and even APK refer to the topic of a given article. You're not good at this trolling thing.

    --
    -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
  50. You guys are missing the obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about a moonmoon's moon?

  51. Joseph Heller did it before... by LordHighExecutioner · · Score: 1

    ...when he created the character of Major Major Major Major

  52. Isn't a moonmoon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Two people mooning at the same time?

  53. Japan did it first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Moon Moon" was a space colony in a Gundam animated series. It was no moon, but a space station that didn't even look like one. It was also a very silly place, and many fans fondly remember it as the lowest point the series has ever been.

  54. Lunar orbits are unstable by fxj · · Score: 1

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Gravitational anomalies slightly distorting the orbits of some Lunar Orbiters led to the discovery of mass concentrations (dubbed mascons) beneath the lunar surface caused by large impacting bodies at some remote time in the past. These anomalies are significant enough to cause a lunar orbit to change significantly over the course of several days.

  55. Moon of Moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...should be called 'yo mumma'. Moonmoons is daft.

  56. That's no moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that's a moonmoon

  57. Alternate Proposal - a "snark" by necro81 · · Score: 1

    Let us call it a "snark". After all, scientists tend to come up with whimsical names when they run out of rational alternatives. For example: after coining "proton", "neutron" and "electron", physicists moved on to "quark" as an obscure reference to a James Joyce novel, followed by the "up", "down", "strange", "charm", "bottom" and "top" monikers, which are even more nonsense.

    "Snark" has a similar whimsical literary pedigree. It was the titular character in a Lewis Carroll poem - a creature that was hunted, but was itself indescribable. "Snark" was also the name of a character in a sci-fi novel: an extra-terrestrial intelligence, like the Clarke's Monolith, watching for developing intelligence in our solar system. More to the point, the snark in that novel spent some time orbiting our own Moon

  58. Follow Swedish naming style. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For example instead of grandmother or grandfather we say (directly translated) fathermother and mothermother for the mothers parents and vice versa for the parents of the father.

  59. they should be called metaluna of course by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With a nod to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Island_Earth

  60. Best news I've heard all day. by cshark · · Score: 1

    Really does make my day richer, knowing that I can run around the city yelling "I have moonmoons!" and have it actually mean something.

    --

    This signature has Super Cow Powers

  61. So Asteroids... by Zorro · · Score: 1

    Can now have hemorrhoids?

  62. This could change Hollywood! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "That's no moonmoon..."

    Sam Rockwell starts in MoonMoon, the lowlow budget sequel to Moon.

    Moonmoonstruck. Coming soon to a theater near you!

    Pygmy Women on the Moonmoon.

    Man on the Moonmoon - A movie about the average life of a small-time, inoffensive comic.

  63. Re:Trumptrumps by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's actually one of several types:

    1. If it comes up to you and grabs you by the genitals, it's a trumptrump.

    2. If it gets you too drunk or high to understand what's going on, it's a brettbrett.

    3. If it involuntarily drugs you and then rapes you, it's a billbill.

    Each predator has a particular pattern of hunting and attacking that has been selected over time for success in its environment. These details are crucial to understanding the variety of degenerate filth in the world today.

  64. a certain husky by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    God damn it Moon moon!

  65. MooMoons by freeasinrealale · · Score: 1

    As in "the cow jumped over the moon"

    --
    A man spends the first half of his life accumulating stuff, the second trying to get rid of it all.