Moons of other planets all have names... just the one from earth is just called moon.
Anyone have suggestions how we should name it ?
This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
DrWatson · 70-79, M
Some refer to it as Luna, a Roman name for a goddess associated with the Moon.
The name Selene, another ancient Moon Goddess, might be a little more poetic. After all, many of the other moons in the solar system are named after figures from Greek or Roman mythology.
In fact, it used to be the case that scientists used terms like "selenology" and "selenography" when referring to the moon, instead of "geology" and "geography", since "geo" refers to Earth.
But after space exploration took off in earnest, it was getting a bit unwieldy to have a separate prefix for each body in the solar system! For a while, scientists spoke of "areology" on Mars (Ares) , for example. So "geo" became more inclusive in meaning.
The name Selene, another ancient Moon Goddess, might be a little more poetic. After all, many of the other moons in the solar system are named after figures from Greek or Roman mythology.
In fact, it used to be the case that scientists used terms like "selenology" and "selenography" when referring to the moon, instead of "geology" and "geography", since "geo" refers to Earth.
But after space exploration took off in earnest, it was getting a bit unwieldy to have a separate prefix for each body in the solar system! For a while, scientists spoke of "areology" on Mars (Ares) , for example. So "geo" became more inclusive in meaning.