What is the Name our Moon? [Archive]

geoschmo

January 27th, 2004, 01:14 PM

It is Luna. Calling our moon "The Moon" is the same thing as calling our sun, Sol, "The Sun". It's not technically incorrect, but it's not actually scientifically specific. The identity of the moon in question depends on the context. As long as we are all on earth, "The Moon" will do, but if you ever go to Jupiter, asking for a cab ride to "The Moon" will probably get you a response, "Which moon buddy?" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

It's like saying, "Let's go to The Mall." As long as everybody knows which shoppong mall you are talking about, you don't have to be more specific, but that's not really it's name.

"Lunar surface" simply means the surface of Luna. Calling the surface of other moons the lunar surface is not technically correct, although I have no doubt some will do it when we get to the point where we are dealing with the surfaces of other moons.

[ January 27, 2004, 11:21: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

JurijD

January 27th, 2004, 01:28 PM

Actually you�re overly english-centrical guys. Our moon is simply called "The Moon".

"Luna" is the slavic (slovenian, croatian, serbian, polish, chech, slovak, russian, bulgarian etc. etc) (probably originates from latin or greek) word for Moon. So even if you say our "Moon" is named "Luna" that can only make sense if you are an english speaking person.
We call for instance Deimos a "Luna" of Mars.
To us its the same if you call it "Moon" or Luna.

And callion our sun "Sol" would be equaly funny as your english word "Sun" is just a translation of the roman/latin word "Sol" (or "Sonce" in most slavic Languages)

[ January 27, 2004, 11:32: Message edited by: JurijD ]

dogscoff

January 27th, 2004, 01:50 PM

That would be like naming your cat, CATOr your snarf, SNARF.

Whatever the official or scientific names, in sci-fi where our moon is colonised it is very often referred to as Luna, and the sun as Sol. When reality eventually catches up with sci-fi, I very strongly suspect that those names will become the official ones. The evolution of language before our very eyes...

Rollo

January 27th, 2004, 03:01 PM

Good points, Geo, and I agree. Still it doesn't change the fact that Luna just means Moon in Latin. So, while calling it Luna is indeed scientificly correct, you are still calling it moon.

I vote for Bob. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Rollo

January 27th, 2004, 03:09 PM

BTW, one thing I always found interesting is the fact that in latin Languages the Moon is female and the Sun is male. In germanic Languages it is the other way around.

What's your view on this? (and how about some more examples from other Languages and parts of the world)

geoschmo

January 27th, 2004, 03:09 PM

Originally posted by Rollo:
Good points, Geo, and I agree. Still it doesn't change the fact that Luna just means Moon in Latin. So, while calling it Luna is indeed scientificly correct, you are still calling it moon.

I vote for Bob. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Actually, in doing a little research I cannot find anywhere that gives an official scientific designation to our moon. Which seems kind of odd to me, since scientist guys are always going around naming stuff. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

So perhaps I was mistaken and there is no officially accepted name. In that case Bob is as good as anything else.

Feel free to call me ignorant, just don't call me "english-centric". http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Cheeze

January 27th, 2004, 03:32 PM

That's just silly. Everyone knows that Earth 2 is named Bob, so we can't name the Moon the same. How about Bill?

Originally posted by dogscoff:
That would be like naming your cat, CATHey, John Wayne could name his dog DOG. If it was good enough for the Duke, it's good enough for me.

I plan to have a dog with the name STAY. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ January 27, 2004, 13:35: Message edited by: Cheeze ]

gregebowman

January 27th, 2004, 03:47 PM

One interesting little fact about hte moon and/or luna, is that the word lunatic comes from people who were acting strange during a full moon. I think this was during the 1600's or 1700's, and it might have been in England. I don't recall all of the circumstances now, but since the word lunatic came from the moon, I guess it would provide proof that the offical name back then was Luna.

Fyron

January 27th, 2004, 05:26 PM

Originally posted by Rollo:
BTW, one thing I always found interesting is the fact that in latin Languages the Moon is female and the Sun is male. In germanic Languages it is the other way around.

What's your view on this? (and how about some more examples from other Languages and parts of the world) It has to do with the gender of the gods associated with the sun and moon in Roman/Greek and Norse mythologies. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

General Woundwort

January 27th, 2004, 05:32 PM

Originally posted by Cheeze:
Hey, John Wayne could name his dog DOG. If it was good enough for the Duke, it's good enough for me.

I plan to have a dog with the name STAY. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif My JH english teacher had a dog, named "Spot". Yeah, pretty unoriginal, except he used to call out whenever he let it out of the house, "Out, out, damned Spot!" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

{this is not a joke.}

Master Belisarius

January 27th, 2004, 06:12 PM

In spanish, the name for the Moon is "Luna", and also, the name for the Sun is "Sol". When we talk about other Planet's satellites, we name them "lunas" too... same thing but talking about others suns.

Then, if you ask me, think the true names in English are simply Moon and Sun.

Cipher7071

January 27th, 2004, 06:44 PM

I say Lord Chane has it about right. Likewise, the Greeks called the moon goddess "Selene". I'm sure there are other names in other Languages that I'm not aware of, but it seems safe to assume that early names for the moon in any language referred to our moon, and not just any satellite. Naturally, our moon was the only such body known in prehistoric times.

edit: It's discoverer is sometimes referred to as Pithecanthropus, which I think refers to the first human being.

[ January 27, 2004, 16:52: Message edited by: Cipher7071 ]

spoon

January 27th, 2004, 06:47 PM

The answer is: The Moon

The source is: HERE (http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=289)

Greybeard

January 27th, 2004, 06:55 PM

Originally posted by spoon:
The answer is: The Moon

The source is: HERE (http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=289) Actually, according to this source, the name is: Moon

There is no capitalized "the" in the name.

Greybeard http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

oleg

January 27th, 2004, 07:00 PM

Originally posted by Greybeard:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by spoon:
The answer is: The Moon

The source is: HERE (http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=289) Actually, according to this source, the name is: Moon

There is no capitalized "the" in the name.

Greybeard http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif <hr /></blockquote>Wrong ! according to thi source, the name is: the Moon http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Cipher7071

January 27th, 2004, 07:12 PM

beeep...beeep...beeep...

Anglo-centric alarm! Anglo-centric alarm!

Moe, Larry, the cheese!! Moe, Larry, the cheese!! Whooop whooop whoooop!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Rollo

January 27th, 2004, 07:18 PM

you are all wrong! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif the real name is: der Mond

... or Bob http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

spoon

January 27th, 2004, 07:24 PM

Originally posted by oleg:

There is no capitalized "the" in the name.
The response from spoon is: Bite Me!

(I always want to capitalize the first word after a colon. It is wrong, I know, but sometimes you have to give into your grammatical weaknesses or else you end up like Greybeard).

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Narrew

January 27th, 2004, 08:45 PM

Hey, what about the Earth? its Earth and dont give me that Gia stuff...

capnq

January 27th, 2004, 09:10 PM

The Earth is Terra. That's where all those Terrans come from.

narf poit chez BOOM

January 27th, 2004, 09:19 PM

and what little life and grasp of precedence we may have had slowly dribble's away...

on the other hand, to much seriousness makes for boredom, boredom lead's to irratation, irratation lead's to anger, anger leads to hate and next thing you know your wearing a life-support mask because your face got major damage. and a cape, because you just have to be dramatic.

Gryphin

January 27th, 2004, 09:31 PM

Since the purpose of assigning names is to communicate and since most people you are likely to use the words the Moon or Luna with will know what you are talking about it comes down to
"A rose called by any other...."

geoschmo

January 27th, 2004, 09:51 PM

Originally posted by spoon:
The answer is: The Moon

The source is: HERE (http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=289) Unfortunatly the source offers no support for his claim, other then the statement that the IAU designates it thus. But looking at the IAU website I can find no confirmation of this fact. I suppose they have some books somewhere, but nothing on their website I can find.

I have found several other websites purporting to be authorities who adhere to the Moon as the name, but the general attitude seems to be it's a stupid question for people to be asking an astronomer and we are all wasting their time. It's almost as if they don't know the name, and so they try to make us all feel stupid for asking. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

What do you mean what's the name of the Moon? It's the Moon you idiot. Now go away, I have some star clusters to categorize.

I have this feeling someday we are going regret not having an actual name for it.

Some where in a cantina in a galaxy far far away...
Those human are so dumb.
How dumb are they?
Humans are so dumb, that millions of years of sentience and the best name they could come up with for their moon is: Moon!

I say Bob is a good name. Better yet, what about Bob Luna?

rdouglass

January 27th, 2004, 09:54 PM

I suggest (in honor of SEIV) that we re-name the moon (or the Moon, or Luna, whatever) to "Sol IIIA".................

spoon

January 27th, 2004, 10:05 PM

Originally posted by rdouglass:
I suggest (in honor of SEIV) that we re-name the moon (or the Moon, or Luna, whatever) to "Sol IIIA"................. Yes!!!

spoon

January 27th, 2004, 10:07 PM

Originally posted by geoschmo:
Unfortunatly the source offers no support for his claim, other then the statement that the IAU designates it thus. But looking at the IAU website I can find no confirmation of this fact. I suppose they have some books somewhere, but nothing on their website I can find.Except for this bit here: This Bit Here (http://www.iau.org/IAU/FAQ/namecaps.html)

PvK

January 27th, 2004, 10:26 PM

Personally, I think astronomers are a step behind sci-fi writers on this one. Sol, Earth or Terra, and Luna are acceptable proper names. Having more than one name for the same thing is passable, too, especially with multiple Languages and cultures.

However, "the solar system" and "the moon" are just generic terms, and naturally refer to a particular one when the speaker happens to be in a solar system, or when on a planet with one moon, and not talking about space travel at the time. They don't cut it for proper names, though. Basic logic failure there. Yes, when defining a language based on how it's used, naturally those will pass that test. Kind of like a medieval peasant talking about "the river" because he never leaves his home village and never sees another village. Or someone talking about "the cat" meaning their cat.

PvK

geoschmo

January 27th, 2004, 11:07 PM

I prefer Solar System as a proper name refering to our system orbitting Sol, and stellar system as the generic form. But I guess I don't get the final say. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

It's ironic I think that astronomers, the people most abundantly aware how insignificant our little place in the cosmos is, cling to such "terra-centric" nomenclature. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Phoenix-D

January 27th, 2004, 11:21 PM

And Earth -isn't- a generic name? Terra and Sol are actually pretty genetic too, they just don't seem so since they were borrowed from other Languages..

narf poit chez BOOM

January 28th, 2004, 02:27 AM

Originally posted by spoon:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by rdouglass:
I suggest (in honor of SEIV) that we re-name the moon (or the Moon, or Luna, whatever) to "Sol IIIA"................. Yes!!! <hr /></blockquote>seconded!

geoschmo

January 28th, 2004, 02:50 AM

Originally posted by JurijD:
Actually you�re overly english-centrical guys. Our moon is simply called "The Moon".
No, actually I am not being english-centrical. How can you say I am being english-centrical when what I am providing is not the english word? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif Although if I had been provding the english word for the name of the moon it would be understandable since my post was in english. It's not being "english-centric" of me to make Posts and not provide the translation for every possible language on earth. If the person reading my post cannot read english, they probably aren't reading this forum, or they have some tool available to them to do the translation. The fact that Luna and Sol are latin words is only because most scientific terms are latin words. The reason scientists use latin words for things is so they can talk to other scientists and be understood without being accused of using "english-centric" terminology.

As I said, "The Moon" is not the proper name for our moon, regardless of what language you are speaking. It is not technically incorrect, but it is not scientifically specific. Luna is the correct scientific nomenclature for our moon. It would be as similer to if people on the forum refered to you a "The Slovenian". It would not be technically incorrect, but it's not your name. And if there are others from Slovenia on the forum, we might not know who people are refering to. When you refer to the moon as "The Moon" everybody knows which moon you are talking to, because everyone hearing you is from earth. At least we think. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif But that doesn't make it it's name.

A roža is a rose, JurijD. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[ January 27, 2004, 12:53: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

Rollo

January 28th, 2004, 02:52 AM

Originally posted by JurijD:
Actually you�re overly english-centrical guys. Our moon is simply called "The Moon"...yep, you are right on this one.

Luna and Sol is simply the Latin names for Moon and Sun.

Perhaps we need another name for the moon: How about Bob?

TerranC

January 28th, 2004, 03:11 AM

Originally posted by Rollo:
... or Bob http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif No. Bob is the name of a shipset. A grand shipset. The grandest shipset. It shall never be the name of a simple moon such as the moon. It won't be naming the moon bob; at least not while I'm around. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

As for the moon, we can always call it Daal. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ January 28, 2004, 01:11: Message edited by: TerranC ]

oleg

January 28th, 2004, 03:43 AM

Actually, more people use Luna than Moon.
Luna is the name in Spanish, Italian, Russian, Ukranian and many more Languages. All togeter, South America and Eastern Europe population exceed English language natives.

Of course, when humanity becomes one nice democracy, we will use the Chinese name. Anybody knows it ? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

narf poit chez BOOM

January 28th, 2004, 04:50 AM

As for the moon, we can always call it Daal. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
huh???

TerranC

January 28th, 2004, 05:13 AM

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />
As for the moon, we can always call it Daal. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
huh??? <hr /></blockquote>Daal. 달. The Korean name for the moon. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Baron Munchausen

January 28th, 2004, 05:19 AM

Note TerranC's location, or rather former location... South Korea. A quick google reveals that Daal is indeed the Korean word for 'Moon'. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Searching around a bit I've found too many names for the Moon in Chinese to be certain which one is the right one. It's called by lots of poetic names, like the name of the Moon Goddess, Chang E, or 'Toad Hall', Chan Gong, because of a folk-legend about it being a place where toads live. Apparently the 'generic' name is Yue but I'm just not certain. And anyway, Chinese uses the same small group of syllables (20 or so) to represent several thousand characters so in truth the name of the Moon in Chinese is a character which we cannot reproduce here without some special code. Does this BB system support Chinese? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Atrocities

January 28th, 2004, 05:23 AM

Talk about a hot topic. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Will

January 28th, 2004, 05:43 AM

The way I always thought of it, english speakers would refer to our moon as 'Luna' and our sun as 'Sol' to reinforce that the reference is to our particular moon or sun, rather than some other moon or sun. The whole capitalization thing doesn't quite work with verbal communication http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Ok, so 'Luna' and 'Sol' are really the Latin words for moon and sun (and thus, since Latin is the root of several Languages, they are also the same in various other Languages). So what? The point is, it is a way to specifically designate our particular satellite and star. A bit of redundancy won't kill you http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

narf poit chez BOOM

January 28th, 2004, 07:14 AM

A bit of redundancy won't kill you http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
'and thankfully, the first detonater had rusted out.'

'mumble, mumble.'

'so why am i in the trauma ward? well, it had a second detonater.'

well, redundancy nearly killed that fictional character.

JurijD

January 28th, 2004, 09:24 AM

Originally posted by geoschmo:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by JurijD:
Actually you�re overly english-centrical guys. Our moon is simply called "The Moon".
No, actually I am not being english-centrical. How can you say I am being english-centrical when what I am providing is not the english word? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif Although if I had been provding the english word for the name of the moon it would be understandable since my post was in english. It's not being "english-centric" of me to make Posts and not provide the translation for every possible language on earth. If the person reading my post cannot read english, they probably aren't reading this forum, or they have some tool available to them to do the translation. The fact that Luna and Sol are latin words is only because most scientific terms are latin words. The reason scientists use latin words for things is so they can talk to other scientists and be understood without being accused of using "english-centric" terminology.

As I said, "The Moon" is not the proper name for our moon, regardless of what language you are speaking. It is not technically incorrect, but it is not scientifically specific. Luna is the correct scientific nomenclature for our moon. It would be as similer to if people on the forum refered to you a "The Slovenian". It would not be technically incorrect, but it's not your name. And if there are others from Slovenia on the forum, we might not know who people are refering to. When you refer to the moon as "The Moon" everybody knows which moon you are talking to, because everyone hearing you is from earth. At least we think. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif But that doesn't make it it's name.

A roža is a rose, JurijD. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif <hr /></blockquote>You totally missed my point geo... What I was saying was this:

1. You are asking yourselves wether or not our Moon has a name. Beacause you feel that "The Moon" is not specific enough as english speaking nations refer to every natural satellite around a planet as "A Moon".

2. Therefore you proposed that "The Moons" name is "Luna" as it is the old latin/greek term for our Moon. (and those guys didn�t need to name any other moons because they didn�t know they existed).
3. When science discovered other moons they didn�t name them "Luna" but Europa, Titan, Fobos, etc. etc. So the Name "Luna" is unique in ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES!
4. I pointed out that the name "Luna" is not unique only to our Moon in slavic nations;) we kept the old roman/latin word for our Moon and applied it to others science discovered; whereas english developed its own word for our "Luna" .."The Moon" and applied that to other moons that were discovered.
5. Therefore saying our Moon is named "Luna" can only make sense if you are an english speaking person. For us slavic nations it would be more sensible if we would call our "Luna" "The Moon" as we don�t call any other natural satellites "The Moon" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
6. Don�t get so defensive at every statement someone makes hehehe. Calling you english-centrical was not meant in the way you thought it was. It was just there to signify that your�re looking at the problem of naming our Moon from the english point of view. I just added that there other views too.

OH, and you get an A for effort on the ro�a. Although the word "ro�a" is common to most slavic Languages it does have slightly different meanings in several of them. In Slovenian "ro�a" doesen�t mean "a rose" but simply "a flower" or any plant that blossomes (how do u spell that) in pretty colors.

A "rose" is called "vrtnica" over here.(Translated into english "vrtnica" would mean "garden flower") But I�m curious, where did you look up "ro�a" ?

[ January 28, 2004, 07:34: Message edited by: JurijD ]

Atrocities

January 28th, 2004, 09:36 AM

Ok, about this company that is selling land on the moon because they filed a claim on the moon as there own property, what do you think about that?

Will we go to war over the moon? Does any one man or company have the right to claim the moon as there own property even if they file a claim with the UN and or other authority?

(I think the guy was on Jay Leno, Letterman, or Cohnan. I don't recall which.)

I can see a time when we will fight over ownership of the moon, and over other planets.

I don't know what the Moons "offically recognized name" is, so I asked. There is no offically recognized name for the moon except the "moon."

You would think that someone would have brought this up sooner over the Last 500 years or so. That someplace at sometime someone would have said, "Wait a minute, lets give the moon an offical name."

Hell NASA doesn't even know of any offical planetary agreed upon name for the Moon except Luna and the Moon.

So is the moon named Luna? I don't believe that it is the offically world wide accepted name.

God I cannot beleive I am the first person to ask this question! Let the record show that I am. Watch now, in the next few years we will begin to see a lot about this and it all started here.

geoschmo

January 28th, 2004, 01:20 PM

Originally posted by JurijD:
A "rose" is called "vrtnica" over here.(Translated into english "vrtnica" would mean "garden flower") But I�m curious, where did you look up "ro�a" ? Just some website I found that had translations. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif It had vrtnica listed as well, but I was afraid that might be some kind of unusual use of the term that depended on context or something. The websites aren't so good with translating whole sentances because they depend so much on context. You need people for that still. Although the computers are getting better at is. Ro�a looked close, so I went for the easy one, which was wrong of course. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

As to your other points, all good ones. See my later Posts and you will see I've come around to accepting your point of view pretty much. Although I still don't like it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

I didn't realize Luna was still used for moon in some latin Languages. The nice thing about using latin for scientific terms is its a dead language, so you don't end up using words that mean something else in a different language. But since Luna is still being used that doesn't really work the way I thought it would in this case. It solves the problem for me, but causes the problem for everyone already using luna to mean moon.

So, more weight to the Bob idea. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Laws yes. M O O N spells Moon!

David E. Gervais

January 28th, 2004, 04:50 PM

You people are silly, the 'original' name for the moon (aka Luna) was/is Artemis.

Now who wants to disprove me by finding 'earlier' references to the moon and it's name?

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

dogscoff

January 28th, 2004, 05:13 PM

Now who wants to disprove me by finding 'earlier' references to the moon and it's name?
I believe the first ever name for the moon was something like:
"Ug-big-round-sky-night-shiny"

Growltigger

January 28th, 2004, 05:24 PM

Nah Dogscoff, I suspect you are severla thousand years too advanced, I suspect that the first nasme for the moon was "ook ook ook" accompanied by paw waving and jumping up and down

David E. Gervais

January 28th, 2004, 05:26 PM

..or perhaps the very first name for the moon was..

Aroooooooooooooo! I know the wolves would agree. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

geoschmo

January 28th, 2004, 05:35 PM

Originally posted by dogscoff:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />
Now who wants to disprove me by finding 'earlier' references to the moon and it's name?
I believe the first ever name for the moon was something like:
"Ug-big-round-sky-night-shiny" <hr /></blockquote>I feel quite safe in doubting that early homosapiens verbal communicatedion consisted primarily of phrases containing small syllable english words. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

PvK

January 28th, 2004, 06:46 PM

Originally posted by Atrocities:
Ok, about this company that is selling land on the moon because they filed a claim on the moon as there own property, what do you think about that?
I think they are probablyly scum, and should be prosecuted as scam artists.

Will we go to war over the moon?
Hard to say. Humans are stupid enough to do so at some point.

Does any one man or company have the right to claim the moon as there own property even if they file a claim with the UN and or other authority?
No.

... So is the moon named Luna?
Yes, by some people.

I don't believe that it is the offically world wide accepted name.
Sounds like it isn't.

God I cannot beleive I am the first person to ask this question! Let the record show that I am. Watch now, in the next few years we will begin to see a lot about this and it all started here. You're not.

PvK

Taera

January 28th, 2004, 07:45 PM

to the original topic, not sure if it was mentioned before but wouldn't the name be Sol III A?

Baron Munchausen

January 28th, 2004, 07:56 PM

People selling property on the Moon eventually will be prosecuted as scam artists. The same treaties that renounce any claims of sovereign nations over any of the planets or other extra-terrestrial bodies also prohibit the granting of private property rights to them. How could it be otherwise? Property rights are granted and mediated by sovereign nations! How stupid do you think the UN is? (Ok, don't answer that one...) Anyone who thought about the issue for 10 minutes would realize that disallowing sovereign claims would have to also disallow private property to prevent 'proxy' control.

[ January 28, 2004, 17:57: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

geoschmo

January 28th, 2004, 08:05 PM

Although, if someone were to figure out a way to get to the moon with some people, they could make a potentially legitimate claim of sovereignty. The moon, or some portion of it would be then a new independant country. They'd have to be recognized of course by the nations of earth for it to mean anything. But I cannot as a private citizen of the US claim a part of the moon, because as Baron says, in effect that is saying the US has proxy control over that territory. And the US and other nations have signed treaties forbiding that.

Narrew

January 28th, 2004, 08:14 PM

Baron I think your right only because there is no nation going up there. I think the whole issue will change (including existing treaties you mentioned) if one country (or a group of them such as the E.U.) makes it a priority to go to the moon or other planetoid. What is there to stop someone if there is no one else there and by the time there would be competing Countries, the infrastructure would be there and the owning country would just say, move on over there, we were here first.

I think it would be interesting to see how things will go, but I assure you the countries that do not spend the money to go "out there" will DEMAND their portion of the pie.

But as I said it is moot now, no one is actually doing anything. even if we get a science outpost on the moon wouldnt count, not big enough project.

Baron Munchausen

January 28th, 2004, 08:20 PM

Of course, if the current political climate of the USA continues on course it's entirely possible that some future administration will simply withdraw from the treaties if it finds some advantage in doing so and claim the Moon as US territory.

Combat Wombat

January 28th, 2004, 08:27 PM

I'm not sure if this has been said yet because I don't have the time to read the entire thread but didn't the US sign a treaty stating that no country can claim a planet or moon or whatever for themselves. I don't remember where I heard this or any details about it but if someone else knows of this treaty could they give me a link to it or explain it in detail.

Narrew

January 28th, 2004, 08:51 PM

LOL, we dont need no stinking treaty. Actually as Baron pointed out there are treaties ect in place. I just don't think it will mean anything once someone gets out there, then they will use possesion is 9/10ths of the law.

I do disagree with you Baron, I don't think the current political climate means any thing. I think once SOMEONE gets the momentum out in space, then expansion will happen, but this time there will not be any native peoples displaced. Could a country take complete control of Mars? I doubt it, perhaps some area the size of one of our states.

It either that or it will be corporations running everything.

I guess depending on your point of view which will be the lessor of evil?

But heck the next 50 years will be interesting times I think.

narf poit chez BOOM

January 28th, 2004, 09:04 PM

But heck the next 50 years will be interesting times I think.
reminds me of a chinese curse, it does.

rdouglass

January 28th, 2004, 09:23 PM

Personally, I think the issue will really revolve around whether there is anything of value there to somebody. Take for instance, Antarctica. There is a plot of land down there that no one's fighting over. In fact, there is a joint effort science establishment there. And IIRC, there are treaties in place saying something similar to those about the moon. Why? 'Cause there's not much there anyone wants EXCEPT the scientific community.

So until we can economically get that He3 molecule (or whatever that post was describing about Helium) or find huge reserves of gold or other precious substances, the moon isn't worth it for anyone to fight over...except of course the con men... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

rdouglass

January 28th, 2004, 09:26 PM

Originally posted by Taera:
to the original topic, not sure if it was mentioned before but wouldn't the name be Sol III A? Yup, a page or two ago. I agree its the ONLY logical choice... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Andr�s

January 29th, 2004, 12:12 AM

IIRC the Greek/Roman goddess Artemis/Dione was called Selene when associated to the moon, just as her brother Apollo was called Febo (or Phebo or whatever is the correct spelling in English) when associated to the sun. I think Selene and Febo were older Latin gods that were later fusioned into Dione and Apollo when they adopted the Greek religion, but they were still called by those names when associated to the lights in the sky.

As it was mentioned earlier moon translates into my mother language, Spanish, as 'luna'.
So calling 'la luna' 'Luna' or 'el sol' 'Sol' sounds to me as redundant as calling the moon Moon. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Anyway I think that the correct statement is not "our moon is called Moon" (or Luna or translate into any other language you like), but "our natural satellite is called Moon".

More on Spanish:
'to land on the moon' translates as 'alunizar', as the normal verb for 'to land' is 'aterrizar' and derives from Tierra (Earth).
ISTR an article where it said that other words that derive from Tierra should be changed when applied to 'la Luna' such as 'luneo' instead of 'terreno' (piece of land).
And some recent news reports used the verb 'amarizar' when referring to landing on Mars.

ISTR some sci-fi story where the natives of the moon where called Selenites or some word derived from Selene. I guess that something derived from Luna would sound too similar to loony or lunatic. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

capnq

January 29th, 2004, 12:59 AM

Take for instance, Antarctica. There is a plot of land down there that no one's fighting over.Kim Stanley Robinson wrote an SF novel called _Antarctica_ about what might happen when the treaty that protects it expires. (I haven't read it yet, so I can't say what does happen.)

Paul1980au

January 29th, 2004, 03:08 AM

Well when antartica treaty runs out one would think that they will re sign it. To much to lose on an environmental basis there.

rdouglass

January 29th, 2004, 04:59 PM

Originally posted by Paul1980au:
Well when antartica treaty runs out one would think that they will re sign it. To much to lose on an environmental basis there. As long as they don't find a big oil Cache there or something like it.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif I agree, environmentally it's very significant - it's a huge "early warning system" for environmental conditions.

In addition, it's not very attractive in terms of military strategy either (not yet anyways). Notice how there's no such agreement concerning the Arctic; partially 'cause there's no dry land but probably more so due to the superpowers being in the Northern Hemisphere (they want to fly surveilence, etc.)

Now the moon may not have much to offer monetarily but may be huge militarily in the not-so-distant future. I suspect that will be a big factor also IMO.

Cipher7071

January 31st, 2004, 03:52 AM

Hmmmm....reading this page reminds me of an Isaac Asimov novel: "The Man Who Sold the Moon."

It was all about business, and politics played a very minor part in the story. Makes one wonder whether it could happen that way in reality.

Baron Munchausen

February 3rd, 2004, 08:34 PM

Ran across this while surfing and thought I'd share it.

Lunar Real Estate: Buyer, Beware!

http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/lunar_real_estate_buyer_beware.shtml

Loser

February 3rd, 2004, 08:55 PM

Originally posted by Cipher7071:
Hmmmm....reading this page reminds me of an Isaac Asimov novel: "The Man Who Sold the Moon."
Heinlein (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1567231551/qid=1075837954//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-8521471-7923214?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

[edit:sig fix check, number 4]

[ February 03, 2004, 20:12: Message edited by: Loser ]

narf poit chez BOOM

February 3rd, 2004, 09:50 PM

L, your sig looks messed up on my screen.

Loser

February 3rd, 2004, 10:15 PM

Yeah, I put the following in the sig "According to convention there is a sweet and a bitter, a hot and a cold, and according to convention there is order. In truth there are atoms and a void."
-Democritus of Abdera, 400 B.C.

A Se+ GdY $++ Fr! C- Csc Sf AuO M+ MpTFd* S Ss RHSRV Pw Fq++ Nd++ Rp+ G++ Mm+++ Bb+++@ L+++ Sd! T? (http://diesel2035.free.fr/geek/geek.htm?geek=A+Se%2B+GdY+%24%2B%2B+Fr%21+C-+Csc+Sf+AuO+M%2B+MpTFd*+S+Ss+RHSRV+Pw+Fq%2B%2B+Nd% 2B%2B+Rp%2B+G%2B%2B+Mm%2B%2B%2B+Bb%2B%2B%2B+L%2B%2 B%2B+Sd%21+T%3F)and in the profile thing it keeps adding spaces here-and-there.

Phoenix-D

February 3rd, 2004, 10:15 PM

Extremely. Its making every thread you posted in H-scroll.

Loser

February 3rd, 2004, 11:00 PM

Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
Extremely. Its making every thread you posted in H-scroll. It's not H-scrolling for me....

Why is it adding the extra space?

narf poit chez BOOM

February 3rd, 2004, 11:29 PM

A Se+ GdY $++ Fr! C- Csc Sf AuO M+ MpTFd* S Ss RHSRV Pw Fq++ Nd++ Rp+ G++ Mm+++ Bb+++@ L+++ Sd! T? (http://diesel2035.free.fr/geek/geek.htm?geek=A+Se%2B+GdY+%24%2B%2B+Fr%21+C-+Csc+Sf+AuO+M%2B+MpTFd*+S+Ss+RHSRV+Pw+Fq%2B%2B+Nd% 2B%2B+Rp%2B+G%2B%2B+Mm%2B%2B%2B+Bb%2B%2B%2B+L%2B%2 B%2B+Sd%21+T%3F)

next question? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Fyron

February 3rd, 2004, 11:40 PM

Use HTML! UBB often chokes on stuff like % in URLs.

Phoenix-D

February 3rd, 2004, 11:53 PM

I think in this case it's choking because he forgot to close the first tag..

Fyron

February 3rd, 2004, 11:54 PM

It looks closed to me:

T%3F] A Se+

[ February 03, 2004, 21:54: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

Phoenix-D

February 4th, 2004, 12:00 AM

yeah, I thought the URL ended somewhere other than where it did.

Loser

February 4th, 2004, 12:04 AM

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Use HTML! UBB often chokes on stuff like % in URLs. Right, I remmeber this now.

[edit: sig fix check]

[edit: well now it just leaves out the link-ness...]

Am I messing up my HTML? no... works outside the sig, just not in the sig.

[ February 03, 2004, 22:16: Message edited by: Loser ]

Atrocities

October 16th, 2007, 11:06 PM

The name of the moon is LUNA. Named by the romans. Took this long to confirm but thats our moons name.

Captain Kwok

October 17th, 2007, 10:08 AM

Our moon's name is the Moon - at least in English. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Ragnarok

October 17th, 2007, 11:16 AM

And to think that name was posted within the first 5 posts of this thread. It took 3 years for you to believe it, AT? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Arkcon

October 17th, 2007, 05:07 PM

Is this thread necromancy or lunatic ravings? Pick one, since Halloween is coming up, vampires or werewolves.

Atrocities

October 17th, 2007, 07:25 PM

According to all scientific information, and the cosmic foks, the name of the official name of the moon is LUNA. It was named by the Romans and that is the world wide official name for her. We just call her the moon.

Rollo

October 17th, 2007, 07:45 PM

Holy necromancy, Batman!

Wade

October 18th, 2007, 04:20 PM

Also, why the disparity between our planet name and our race name? If we are Humans then should our planet be named Huma? If our planet is named Earth then should our race be named Earthlings(that sounds funny for some reason)...or Earthans?

Also, I hate when a question asks for my race. I'm considering next time putting
"Human". Asking nationality doesn't work either because one can be an American(nationality) from India or Britian or China, etcetera. Maybe "ancestoral nationality"?

Also, all these names vary in all the languages of...the people of...our planet.

Also(yes, another), the terms of: White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, African etcetera are not nationalities. Some are continents or regions. Perhaps questions should ask our ancestoral continent or region? Or maybe we should not even be asked.

I am considered "White" but I like being considered "European American" or just "American". My family has been born in America for many generations; maybe most of my family line since the birth of America.

-Wade

Renegade 13

October 18th, 2007, 05:42 PM

Technically, I'm American...though I'm also Canadian.

After all, I live in North America, therefore I'm American, as are those of you from the US, Mexicans, Guatamalans, etc http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

The Moon's name is...The Moon, in the English language. As that's the word that the vast majority uses, it could be argued that The Moon is the proper name by virtue of popular usage.

Wade

October 18th, 2007, 06:27 PM

No. Nationality is the nation of wich you are a citizen. You are Canadian. My nation is the United States of America. I'm an American. We and they are on the continent of North America. The region below USA is called Central America, though it's still part of the North American continent.

-Wade

Fyron

October 19th, 2007, 04:21 AM

By that reasoning, a Chinese man is not Asian, and a Swiss woman is not European.

Also, human is an invalid response to "race?" It is a species, not a race/breed/variety...

dogscoff

October 19th, 2007, 05:12 AM

OK then Fyron, next time a form asks me to fill in "race" I will put in "100 metre hurdles."

narf poit chez BOOM

October 19th, 2007, 05:16 AM

...You could always pick one from, say, D&D/Forgotten Realms...

Atrocities

October 19th, 2007, 05:41 AM

Actually I say we start a grass roots effort to have the moons name officially changed from LUNA to Fyconia.

PETITION: (We Need 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 votes)
Atrocities

Atrocities

October 19th, 2007, 05:41 AM

I dare someone to give me the official name of that number. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

capnq

October 19th, 2007, 08:06 AM

Renegade 13 said: The Moon's name is...The Moon, in the English language. As that's the word that the vast majority uses, it could be argued that The Moon is the proper name by virtue of popular usage.

By that metric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers), the proper name is Yue Liang (http://chineseculture.about.com/library/symbol/blcc_moon.htm).

I thought it was a nice touch in SEV that the Terran leader looks Asian.

Randallw

October 19th, 2007, 08:23 AM

Sol 3a, surely.

"Don't call me shirley"

Atrocities

October 19th, 2007, 11:08 AM

Actually Terra Luna I.

Ragnarok

October 19th, 2007, 01:57 PM

Atrocities said:
I dare someone to give me the official name of that number. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Easy. That is 2 Quattuorquadragintillion.

So what do I win? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Edit: Just to prove I am being serious... Wiki List of Large Numbers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_large_numbers)
Edit2: Your number has 135 zeros. That will make it easier to find in the list. Represented as 10(135)

Renegade 13

October 19th, 2007, 05:11 PM

capnq said:

Renegade 13 said: The Moon's name is...The Moon, in the English language. As that's the word that the vast majority uses, it could be argued that The Moon is the proper name by virtue of popular usage.

By that metric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers), the proper name is Yue Liang (http://chineseculture.about.com/library/symbol/blcc_moon.htm).

I thought it was a nice touch in SEV that the Terran leader looks Asian.

Note that I said "The Moon's name is...The Moon, in the English language" thus the Chinese name is irrelevant.

capnq

October 20th, 2007, 02:36 PM

A majority of Terrans don't speak English; therefore I submit that it's the English name that's irrelevant. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Atrocities

October 20th, 2007, 03:00 PM

Ragnarok said:

Atrocities said:
I dare someone to give me the official name of that number. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Easy. That is 2 Quattuorquadragintillion.

So what do I win? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Edit: Just to prove I am being serious... Wiki List of Large Numbers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_large_numbers)
Edit2: Your number has 135 zeros. That will make it easier to find in the list. Represented as 10(135)

Congrats, I believe you are correct. I wish I had something to give you but I do not. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Say what happens when Terrabyte hard drives are the norm and we need drives that go beyond the highest number threshold of the Terrabyte system? What would they be called?

1 Googlebyte or something equally offensive?

And since google(TM) is now a trade mark name, every time someone uses it, google(TM) do they have to pay google(TM) a user fee?

Atrocities

October 20th, 2007, 03:03 PM

Oops, answered my own Petabyte question. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Petabyte
Exabyte
zettabyte
yottabyte

Santiago

October 20th, 2007, 03:24 PM

While that may be true at the moment that english is not the majority language of the world. Research shows that nearly 380 million people speak english as their native language. But if you add in all the non-native speakers,it is probably the most common language spoken worldwide depending if you count the chinese languages as actual languages or dialects. It is the language of communication between people and businesses. The number of non-native to native speakers is around 3-1 by some estimates. Just go to any country that is not native english speaking and you will see a plethora of "learn english schools" and some countries actively teach english in their own school system.

I would submit that the english name of Moon is not irrelevant and is more in use than any other name.

Renegade 13

October 20th, 2007, 05:40 PM

You read my mind Santiago.

capnq

October 20th, 2007, 07:24 PM

Atrocities said: Say what happens when Terrabyte hard drives are the norm and we need drives that go beyond the highest number threshold of the Terrabyte system? What would they be called?

1 Googlebyte or something equally offensive?

And since google(TM) is now a trade mark name, every time someone uses it, google(TM) do they have to pay google(TM) a user fee?

No, because Google(TM) mispelled the name when they filed the trademark. The number is spelled "googol".

dmm

November 6th, 2007, 04:42 PM

You know, if there is some big alien space empire out there, then our planet and moon might have names based upon THEIR language and naming system. And since they would out-number us (and be more technically advanced), that means they get to pick the name. So, stay tuned.

H.G. Wells wrote a book in which two men go to "The Moon" and encounter Selenites. Even earlier, Jules Verne discussed the (past) existence of Selenites. According to Wikipedia, Verne's novels "inspired the first science fiction film, Le Voyage dans la Lune, made in 1902 by Georges M�li�s (English title: A Trip to the Moon)." That movie definitely has Selenites. But there are even earlier references to Selenites in scientific (!) and classical literature, according to this website:
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/M/Moonlife.html

So, I vote for Selene. Now all you Greek-speaking people can write in and complain that selene is just the Greek word for moon.