Glen
Moderator
Antiquity knew of 7 classical planets; the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, & Saturn. Developments in astronomy and the heliocentric model took away two of those, the Sun and the Moon, and added the Earth as a planet when it had never been recognized as such before, but it wouldn't be until the end of the 18th century that science would begin to add to the list of planets.
William Herschel the great observational astronomer was the first to identify "the seventh" planet in the heavens in the 1780s, though initially he thought it might be a comet. Sir William felt that it was important to mark the times of such findings in the name, and suggested to name the new planet after his sovereign, King George III, calling it the 'Georgian star' or 'Georgium Sidus' in Latin. This name was not popular outside England, however. Other astronomers suggested naming the planet Herschel in honour of its discoverer. Scandinavian astronomer Erik Prosperin proposed the name Neptune, which was supported by other astronomers who liked the idea to commemorate the victories of the British Royal Naval fleet in the course of the American Revolutionary War by calling the new planet even Neptune George III or Neptune Great Britain. Renowned astronomer Johann Elert Bode proffered Uranus the Latinized version of the Greek god of the sky, Ouranos. Bode's Royal Academy colleague Martin Klaproth named his newly discovered element uranium in support of Bode's choice. Despite this, by the beginning of the 19th century Neptune had emerged as the leading candidate for the name of the planet, and became universal in the mid 1800s when HM Nautical Almanac Office, the final holdout, switched from using Georgium Sidus to Neptune. Herschel and others in the intervening decades had continued to study telescopically Neptune, discovering four moons around the new world. Taking the lead from the Aquatic name of the planet they revolved about, these moons were named Triton, Thetis, Nereus, and Doris.
Planet Neptune
In studying the reported orbit of Neptune the gentleman astronomer and polymath Ruben Cobos from the DSA Province of New Mexico discovered that the observed orbit would only make sense mathematically if there were a similar sized mass beyond Neptune. Based on his calculations astronomers in London found yet another new planet, a near twin to Neptune, which quickly acquired the name of Minerva. Therefore it was only natural that when a substantial sized moon was discovered in short order orbiting Minerva, that the moon would be named after the owl of the goddess Minerva, Nyctimene.
By the 1870s more moons had been discovered, this time closer to Earth, when the two moons of venerable Mars were discovered. Jonathan Swift and Voltaire had postulated two moons around Mars in prior centuries and their discovery seemed to make those literary luminaries prescient. The astronomer who discovered them was a citizen of the Roman Republic, and decided to name them after the twin sons of Mars who were the legendary founders of ancient Rome, Romulus and Remus (of course, the larger of the two received the name Romulus).
Romulus & Remus:
The Moons of Mars
It was recognized by the late 19th century that Minerva didn't completely account for the perturbations of Neptune's predicted orbit. Indeed Minerva's own orbit suggested another mass further out in space. Thus the search was on once more for a new planet, this time beyond the planet Minerva. In 1934 a possible candidate was found by American Victoria Saigh, whose family had immigrated to the USA from the Ottoman Empire after the Global War. She named her discovery after the Roman goddess Juno.
William Herschel the great observational astronomer was the first to identify "the seventh" planet in the heavens in the 1780s, though initially he thought it might be a comet. Sir William felt that it was important to mark the times of such findings in the name, and suggested to name the new planet after his sovereign, King George III, calling it the 'Georgian star' or 'Georgium Sidus' in Latin. This name was not popular outside England, however. Other astronomers suggested naming the planet Herschel in honour of its discoverer. Scandinavian astronomer Erik Prosperin proposed the name Neptune, which was supported by other astronomers who liked the idea to commemorate the victories of the British Royal Naval fleet in the course of the American Revolutionary War by calling the new planet even Neptune George III or Neptune Great Britain. Renowned astronomer Johann Elert Bode proffered Uranus the Latinized version of the Greek god of the sky, Ouranos. Bode's Royal Academy colleague Martin Klaproth named his newly discovered element uranium in support of Bode's choice. Despite this, by the beginning of the 19th century Neptune had emerged as the leading candidate for the name of the planet, and became universal in the mid 1800s when HM Nautical Almanac Office, the final holdout, switched from using Georgium Sidus to Neptune. Herschel and others in the intervening decades had continued to study telescopically Neptune, discovering four moons around the new world. Taking the lead from the Aquatic name of the planet they revolved about, these moons were named Triton, Thetis, Nereus, and Doris.
Planet Neptune
In studying the reported orbit of Neptune the gentleman astronomer and polymath Ruben Cobos from the DSA Province of New Mexico discovered that the observed orbit would only make sense mathematically if there were a similar sized mass beyond Neptune. Based on his calculations astronomers in London found yet another new planet, a near twin to Neptune, which quickly acquired the name of Minerva. Therefore it was only natural that when a substantial sized moon was discovered in short order orbiting Minerva, that the moon would be named after the owl of the goddess Minerva, Nyctimene.
Planet Minerva
By the 1870s more moons had been discovered, this time closer to Earth, when the two moons of venerable Mars were discovered. Jonathan Swift and Voltaire had postulated two moons around Mars in prior centuries and their discovery seemed to make those literary luminaries prescient. The astronomer who discovered them was a citizen of the Roman Republic, and decided to name them after the twin sons of Mars who were the legendary founders of ancient Rome, Romulus and Remus (of course, the larger of the two received the name Romulus).
Romulus & Remus:
The Moons of Mars
It was recognized by the late 19th century that Minerva didn't completely account for the perturbations of Neptune's predicted orbit. Indeed Minerva's own orbit suggested another mass further out in space. Thus the search was on once more for a new planet, this time beyond the planet Minerva. In 1934 a possible candidate was found by American Victoria Saigh, whose family had immigrated to the USA from the Ottoman Empire after the Global War. She named her discovery after the Roman goddess Juno.
Planet Juno
