We should just change the name to Caelus. It's more consistent since Uranus is the only non-Earth planet to go with the Greek version instead of the Roman one, and it ends the problem once and for...
We should just change the name to Caelus. It's more consistent since Uranus is the only non-Earth planet to go with the Greek version instead of the Roman one, and it ends the problem once and for all.
Do we have to rename Saturn's moons then, too? They all have Greek names, after the Titans and Giants. Or do planets get to be Roman and moons are Greek? I'm partial to Enceladus, I'd hate to...
Do we have to rename Saturn's moons then, too? They all have Greek names, after the Titans and Giants. Or do planets get to be Roman and moons are Greek? I'm partial to Enceladus, I'd hate to change it.
I do like Caelus, but it would be equally hard for English speakers to pronounce correctly just by looking at it. The only real thing people get wrong about Uranus is the emphasis. If you say /ˈjʊərənəs/ instead of /jʊˈreɪnəs/1 it doesn't sound funny anymore.
To be honest, I forgot about the moons when I wrote this. Roman vs Greek naming schemes is more of a side note to the main issue... the problem with Uranus isn't just how it's pronounced, it's...
To be honest, I forgot about the moons when I wrote this. Roman vs Greek naming schemes is more of a side note to the main issue... the problem with Uranus isn't just how it's pronounced, it's also how it's spelled. It literally is spelled "Ur Anus", pronouncing it differently doesn't solve that. I'm also not fond of either of the 2 alternate pronunciations: "Urine-us" has the word "urine" in it, substituting one joke for another (much like the "we renamed it Urectum!" joke in Futurama), and OOO-ran-ess sounds like you're either being a bit pretentious, or deliberately avoiding saying it how it's spelled (see the "It's Sa-tine, actually!" joke from Wreck it Ralph). If we agreed to switch to the latter, we should update the spelling to Ouranos to resolve the other half of the issue and to make the pronunciation feel more natural in English.
I think any pronunciation concerns with Caelus are a non-issue. People pronounce things differently from each other all the time. Kay-lus, Kee-lus. If English speakers pronounce it wrong, it still won't have any dirty jokes in it. There's also the alternate spelling "Coelus" which could make it easier to pronounce (but isn't as cool).
A doubled long ‘ooo’ sound is how my Latin teacher taught us to pronounce it. Oo-ran-oos. Doesn’t roll off the English-speaking tongue so well, that’s for sure. Personally I’m for updating the...
A doubled long ‘ooo’ sound is how my Latin teacher taught us to pronounce it. Oo-ran-oos. Doesn’t roll off the English-speaking tongue so well, that’s for sure.
Personally I’m for updating the spelling to Ouranos. It dispels the tasteless jokes without compromising the spirit of the name.
Sadly, I think that ship sailed 241 years ago. (Or maybe 173.) I can't imagine renaming a planet just because it's relentlessly the target of juvenile jokes. And for the record, I agree with the...
Sadly, I think that ship sailed 241 years ago. (Or maybe 173.) I can't imagine renaming a planet just because it's relentlessly the target of juvenile jokes.
And for the record, I agree with the sentiment of what you're saying. I don't understand what those 18th-century astronomers were thinking. At least Georgium Sidus never stuck?
Definitely not, once we are a spacefaring species, but while we are all still here on Earth I think it’s doable. If Pluto can be demoted, Uranus can be renamed. Now would be the best time to do it.
I can't imagine renaming a planet just because it's relentlessly the target of juvenile jokes.
Definitely not, once we are a spacefaring species, but while we are all still here on Earth I think it’s doable. If Pluto can be demoted, Uranus can be renamed. Now would be the best time to do it.
This exactly! Uranus not being able to be mentioned in the news without half the comments being about this issue instead of whatever the article is actually about is a huge problem. We've as a...
If Pluto can be demoted, Uranus can be renamed.
This exactly! Uranus not being able to be mentioned in the news without half the comments being about this issue instead of whatever the article is actually about is a huge problem. We've as a species gone out of our way to solve much smaller issues.
These new images are cool for a few reasons: One, you can actually see the faint, diffuse dusty ring nearest the planet’s atmosphere, the Zeta ring. For a long time we could only pick it out in a...
These new images are cool for a few reasons:
One, you can actually see the faint, diffuse dusty ring nearest the planet’s atmosphere, the Zeta ring. For a long time we could only pick it out in a single photo from Voyager 2.
Two, the bright wisps of white off by themselves in the blue areas around the polar cap are storms. There’s a lot we don’t know yet about how storms work in the chilly, relatively calm atmosphere of ice giants like this one. Images like this will help.
And three, it’s wearing a string of pretty moon pearls! Beginning at 2 and moving clockwise (according to NASA’s annotations from the link), you can see Rosalind and the much bigger Puck, followed by Belinda, Desdemona & Cressida in a trio, then Bianca and Portia, with Juliet and Perdita near the top.
The five bigger, “major” moons, like Titania & Oberon, are visible in the wider crop, and also very beautiful.
Juvenile jokes aside, nice article.
I like "Oo-ran-ess" as a pronunciation. Dodges the cheap toilet humor jokes of the mainstream ways to say it.
We should just change the name to Caelus. It's more consistent since Uranus is the only non-Earth planet to go with the Greek version instead of the Roman one, and it ends the problem once and for all.
Do we have to rename Saturn's moons then, too? They all have Greek names, after the Titans and Giants. Or do planets get to be Roman and moons are Greek? I'm partial to Enceladus, I'd hate to change it.
I do like Caelus, but it would be equally hard for English speakers to pronounce correctly just by looking at it. The only real thing people get wrong about Uranus is the emphasis. If you say /ˈjʊərənəs/ instead of /jʊˈreɪnəs/1 it doesn't sound funny anymore.
To be honest, I forgot about the moons when I wrote this. Roman vs Greek naming schemes is more of a side note to the main issue... the problem with Uranus isn't just how it's pronounced, it's also how it's spelled. It literally is spelled "Ur Anus", pronouncing it differently doesn't solve that. I'm also not fond of either of the 2 alternate pronunciations: "Urine-us" has the word "urine" in it, substituting one joke for another (much like the "we renamed it Urectum!" joke in Futurama), and OOO-ran-ess sounds like you're either being a bit pretentious, or deliberately avoiding saying it how it's spelled (see the "It's Sa-tine, actually!" joke from Wreck it Ralph). If we agreed to switch to the latter, we should update the spelling to Ouranos to resolve the other half of the issue and to make the pronunciation feel more natural in English.
I think any pronunciation concerns with Caelus are a non-issue. People pronounce things differently from each other all the time. Kay-lus, Kee-lus. If English speakers pronounce it wrong, it still won't have any dirty jokes in it. There's also the alternate spelling "Coelus" which could make it easier to pronounce (but isn't as cool).
A doubled long ‘ooo’ sound is how my Latin teacher taught us to pronounce it. Oo-ran-oos. Doesn’t roll off the English-speaking tongue so well, that’s for sure.
Personally I’m for updating the spelling to Ouranos. It dispels the tasteless jokes without compromising the spirit of the name.
ooh yeah I think that spelling would suit it much better.
Sadly, I think that ship sailed 241 years ago. (Or maybe 173.) I can't imagine renaming a planet just because it's relentlessly the target of juvenile jokes.
And for the record, I agree with the sentiment of what you're saying. I don't understand what those 18th-century astronomers were thinking. At least Georgium Sidus never stuck?
Definitely not, once we are a spacefaring species, but while we are all still here on Earth I think it’s doable. If Pluto can be demoted, Uranus can be renamed. Now would be the best time to do it.
This exactly! Uranus not being able to be mentioned in the news without half the comments being about this issue instead of whatever the article is actually about is a huge problem. We've as a species gone out of our way to solve much smaller issues.
I think we should rename it to Urectum.
These new images are cool for a few reasons:
One, you can actually see the faint, diffuse dusty ring nearest the planet’s atmosphere, the Zeta ring. For a long time we could only pick it out in a single photo from Voyager 2.
Two, the bright wisps of white off by themselves in the blue areas around the polar cap are storms. There’s a lot we don’t know yet about how storms work in the chilly, relatively calm atmosphere of ice giants like this one. Images like this will help.
And three, it’s wearing a string of pretty moon pearls! Beginning at 2 and moving clockwise (according to NASA’s annotations from the link), you can see Rosalind and the much bigger Puck, followed by Belinda, Desdemona & Cressida in a trio, then Bianca and Portia, with Juliet and Perdita near the top.
The five bigger, “major” moons, like Titania & Oberon, are visible in the wider crop, and also very beautiful.
I'm all for potty humor.
But I also love space, this is very interesting, thank you!
I love the new images and information the James Webb telescope is providing us! Truly marvelous.