Dean Watson Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Just got to thinking... well it seems like thinking. My partners an archaeologist with her first degree in Egyptoplogy. Now it occurs to me, Egyptian pyramids have really dull names. The Red Pyramid. The Step Pyramid, The Great Pyramid. Yawn. Just so dull. Now, whats wrong with 'The Lost Forbidden Pyramid of Death'? See, not dull at all. Now, as astronomers we seem to be missing a trick here. Proxima B. I mean, come on really, we're not doing ourselves any favours here. No effort at all. Dull, dull, dull. So, to increase interest in astronomy to the masses, I would propose something like, oh, I don't know, 'World of the Slime Creatures' or possibly even at the risk of being accused of narcissism, 'Deans World' (Nothing wrong with my ego...) Has anyone else any other suggestions for it? I mean, they demoted Pluto and all, together we can make a change and make exoplanet naming so much more interesting! Smithysteve and Tweedledee 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 (edited) Lacking any name inspiration, I googled and found it already has lots of names, or at least catalogue numbers... α Centauri C b, V645 Centauri b, GCTP 3278.00 b, GJ 551 b, LHS 49 b, LFT 1110 b, LTT 5721 b, HIP 70890 b. From the sketchy information we know about it, a more descriptive name might be "Hell". It's surface temperature might vary from minus 40 C to plus 100 C, and it is constantly being showered with a very unhealthy dose of x-rays. And we complain about the fickle UK weather. It is expected that the planet will be tidally locked, like the Earth-Moon system, so one side of the planet will permanently face Proxima, which would appear red and several times larger than our sun. Astro observing from the permanently dark side would be unusual, as the whole year, and hence all the constellations would be seen over its 11 day orbit around Proxima. It could be fun to name them but there are so many exo planets now. Most of the good names have been use in our own solar system for moons, asteroids or Trans Neptunian objects etc. Brave New World? Edited August 25, 2016 by Tweedledee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Watson Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 11 hours ago, Tweedledee said: α Centauri C b, V645 Centauri b, GCTP 3278.00 b, GJ 551 b, LHS 49 b, LFT 1110 b, LTT 5721 b, HIP 70890 b. I mean, really, even more coma inducing. How about 'Planet of the Buxom Amazon Warrior Maidens' (capital city Barberellaville) Now theres a headline! I think its time for my lie down. Nurse? Isnt it time for my 'special medicine'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 2 hours ago, DeanWatson said: I mean, really, even more coma inducing. How about 'Planet of the Buxom Amazon Warrior Maidens' (capital city Barberellaville) Now theres a headline! I think its time for my lie down. Nurse? Isnt it time for my 'special medicine'? When your medicine wears off we could have a vote. Don't you think GCTP 3278.00 b just rolls nicely off the tongue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stash Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 6 hours ago, Tweedledee said: When your medicine wears off we could have a vote. Don't you think GCTP 3278.00 b just rolls nicely off the tongue? So long as there is a std that makes lookup's easy and you can fit the short names on CDC etc screens i see no problem with GCTP 3278.00 but can see no reason not to have "nicknames" it can have a nick/common name like "bad learner drivers" star. Took me ages to find out what CDC called Polaris - Alpha Ursae Minoris AKA Alp UMi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 As there are going to be just too many to name, I think that you could have the right to be designated to it by using all the long numbers, the expiry date and the three numbers on the back of your credit/debit card. I would even send you a certificate to say it was yours! Can't say fairer than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 How about Planety Mc Planet Face? If they can get close to getting boaty mc boat face passed, I`m sure planety mc planet face will be a doddle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 On 26/08/2016 at 09:18, DeanWatson said: I mean, really, even more coma inducing. How about 'Planet of the Buxom Amazon Warrior Maidens' (capital city Barberellaville) Now theres a headline! I think its time for my lie down. Nurse? Isnt it time for my 'special medicine'? Just been studying the latest Stellarium release 15. It has a new, much enhanced search facility. One option (among many) is Exoplanets. It lists thousands of them, the bulk of them in Cygnus discovered by the Kepler spacecraft. It seems that out of those thousands they have so far named 25 exoplanets. What I think is also nice, is that they have also named the sun of the system, if it doesn't already have a name. I'm sorry Dean, but I don't think the names will impress you too much, for example... Epsilon Eridani sun=Ran, exoplanet=Aegir HD81688 sun=Intercus, exoplanet=Arkas Mu Ara sun=Cervantes, exoplanets=Quijote, Dulcinea, Rocinante and Sancho 55 Cnc sun=Copernicus, exoplanets=Galileo, Brahe, Lippershey and Janssen Proxima b=Planet of the Buxom Amazon Warrior Maidens, oh! sorry no - it is still Proxima b Get Stellarium 15, it has some nice improvements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 It would seem that the names within individual systems tend to follow various themes. The above examples show Norse mythology, Old Spanish literature and astronomy/optics. Not getting to the bottom of Intercus and Arkas though, google is giving very spurious results on those. Does anyone else know of any theme or connection there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Disney! Pluto. Tweedledee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Watson Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 At least they've made some effort though! That's the thing though that gets me with astronomy and science in general. If you see some of my other posts (especially about cheap tat on the moon and Hawking talking about things outside is expertise just 'cos his a sort of sciency expert). Its all the awe and reverence attached to science subjects. I mean, now i'm not saying I don't have a sense of awe or whatever (Sagan refered to it a sense of the 'numinous'. It just makes me laugh when I hear senior scientists and educators bemoan lack of interest in science when the very language (naming conventiions etc) are almost deliberately designed to distance people from it. Now, I'm no fan of pandering to the lowest common denominator but I still have an appreciation for pop culture, rubbish SF movies and whatnot and can still reasonably coherently discuss the Hertzprung Russell diagram. It seems to me that scientists (and lets face it, Newton probably had Aspergers or some derirative) almost deliberately try to make their subjects impenetrable (although I like what Feynman had to say, in that if you couldn't explain a complex subject to a layman then you didn't really understand it yourself). Science lets itself down by ignoring a large part of Humans, namely a sense of fun and irreverence. That little spark that makes us Human. See like most of my posts, initially silly but with a serious point! Which is what a forums for! Tweedledee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Well said Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 1 hour ago, BAZ said: Disney! Pluto. Good one. And Intercus? Pokemon Go? Or is that just Tercus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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