For me, if the real power behind the cosmos was the jealous have no gods before me type, the/she/they/it would demand we name the planets after it's dogma.

However... Ask yourself that question, why no Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Buddhist astronomical names? We are discovering new things all the time. Yet it's delineated to to scientific numbers and scientists names.

Is that a freudian slip? Has this slip become a trend that became concrete before we really had time to think about it. Sometimes bad decisions become the norm before their measure has been asessed.

-ADHD

How about we find the least bright planet in the universe and name it Bush?

I suspect that part of it might be due that the instant you name something after a "active" deity then there would immediately be followers complaining that it's not "Grand enough for his/her glory" or that followers of another faith would demand that it be named after THEIR deity.




I think it may be for the best for the numbers. It avoids a lot of problems that way.

Could you imagine if someone names a planet Allah, or Muhamed? I'm willing to bet all the super sensitive, ready to be offended Muslims would flip out.

I mean think about it, you can't name stuffed animals after any of this stuff or they want to lock you up. Try writing a comic strip about it, and watch em riot until a few people are dead.

We don't name planets after gods anymore because scientists are smart enough to realize
that A. modern gods are totally fake and they don't have to go along with it like back in the day, and B. Naming important celestial bodies after Gods, might promote oraganized religion, and no one in the science community wants that.

Interesting quiestion.
I wonder what the adherents of current relions think about this.
There isn't a Zeus or an Appolo either.
And how about Quetzecoatl and Viracocha?

Originally posted by ADHDsux4me
For me, if the real power behind the cosmos was the jealous have no gods before me type, the/she/they/it would demand we name the planets after it's dogma. ...

Tell me what's logically wrong with that sentence, and I'll provide you an answer.

The Sun has many names.
The current Sun God is known as Jesus.
It just isn't politically corrent to say so.
And besides, people do not know that there are many names for the same object. There is a different name from every language.

I could be wrong and I haven't checked this but...I think the Planets are named after the Ancient World Gods due to the educational backgrounds of those that discovered them and the similar backgrounds of subsequent Astronomical Societies. A Classical education has a strong focus on Latin philosophy, mythology and history. It was natural to name them as such and probably inevitable.

As for 'modern Gods', what 'modern Gods'?

On a cynical note...hands up anyone who agrees that in the not too distant future newly discovered planets will get corporate names

Planet MacDonalds

Planet Pepsi

Disney Planet

It'll happen...

And i shall send you to whichever god you choose

I use this quote to say; Call them what you like, they are still the same thing,

Oh and with your Astrologists mapping out even further out stars & planets,
It would be unpheasable to give them all 'names' as names would get confusing, run out of them, and arent as easily archivable,
However giving them a designation like what your astrologists are doing now is more logical

[edit on 20/1/2009 by AmmonSeth]

Please don't confuse Astrologers, with Astronomers. One "studies" how your life is ruled by the heavens, and the other researches the universe.

As for naming planets after modern gods.. Lord Xenu would not like that one bit. He would probably dump your soul into a volcano, or force you to watch Tom Cruise movies endlessly. Oh, the horror!!!

Feel free to call a newly discovered planet, that you can not see, by any name you choose. No one will care until mankind actually travels to another planet outside our solar system.

The planets in our system, which are visible to the naked eye, were named by the predominant culture at the time, and the names have stuck. Planets in our solar system that were discovered later, simply stuck with the naming theme.

Scientists do indeed have a sense of style when it comes to names. Look at the two rocks on Mars named Yogi and boo boo. Newly discovered Stars and Planets follow an international identification plan which is designed to make cataloging them easier.

I bet however, if you were to choose to name a planet after someones religious idol, it would piss them off and cause more disturbance than good. Just like when hurricanes get named, there is always some person with that name who gets offended. Hurricane Oprah will devastate the southland soon, much like Hurricane Bush leveled New Orleans.