billp@bronze.UUCP (Bill Pfeifer) (08/16/83)
The discussion about a possible planetary system around Vega
brought up the question about names. "Sun" is just a generic term that
applies to the star closest to the planet on which one stands.
A few years back I spoke with someone who insisted that the name
of our star is "Copernicus". Can anyone confirm or deny? I have not heard
anyone use that name since. The same person said that the name of our
galaxy is "Bruno Galaxy".
Bill Pfeifer
{decvax,ucbvax,zehntel,uw-beaver} !tektronix!tekmdp!billpesj@ihuxl.UUCP (08/18/83)
Since I have my bachelor's and graduate work in astronomy/astrophysics, I feel compelled to relate the rules for using terms like "solar system", "sun", etc. The main rule is that there are no firm rules, at least to the best of my recollection. For example, when one says "stellar system" one can be referring to a binary or larger system of stars going around a common center of gravity or one can be talking about a whole galaxy. The "Sun" is Sol but to a person standing on say Vega X "the sun" is Vega. It's sort of like "South" meaning Dixie and "south" meaning the the direction. Take things in context and there won't be problems. If somebody wants to talk about planets of Vega, I would use the term "planetary system" but mainly just because I'm a heliocentric chauvinist. The *context* in which I heard "stellar system" used always implied stars, not planets. Aside from the astronomer, the only Copernicus I know is a satellite. Our galaxy has always been known to me as "The Milky Way" or "The Galaxy" (being chauvinistic again). Just be thankful it wasn't named Ford. Hey UTASTRO! Any comments? Jeff "Given to demented ravings" Johnson ihnp4!ihuxl!esj
jhowe@ihldt.UUCP (08/18/83)
I would tend to agree with Jeff Johnson. Based on this, I looked in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary for support. The following is an excerpt from that entry. sun 1 a: the luminous celestial around which the earth and other planets revolve. . . b: a celestial body like the sun
sts@ssc-vax.UUCP (08/18/83)
There's also a lunar crater named Copernicus.... From the smart-aleck in the crowd, stan the leprechaun hacker ssc-vax!sts (soon utah-cs)
Manley.ES@PARC-MAXC.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP (08/25/83)
It is appropriate to name our galaxy after Giordano Bruno and our sun after Copernicus, especially since Bruno was burned at the stake for holding these views while Copernicus just barely escaped this fate by dying before his book was published.
esj@ihuxl.UUCP (08/29/83)
Have these names been officially adopted by the IAU or are these *suggestions* ? ihnp4!ihuxl!esj
urban@trwspp.UUCP (08/30/83)
When we discuss the "name of the Sun" or "Snickers" or that stuff, what is the name of the body that officially sanctions these names? Not afraid to ask a dumb question. Mike Urban [ucbvax|decvax]!trw-unix!trwspp!urban
Gloger.es@PARC-MAXC.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP (08/31/83)
Bill Pfeifer suggests that the name of our sun is "Copernicus," and the name of our galaxy "Bruno Galaxy." These are indeed the proper names for those entities. I believe the first person to suggest these names was Andrew Galambos, an astrophysicist and social theorist. His rationale is that, in science, things are properly and usually named after their discoverers or inventors or other primary contributors. Copernicus is the first person to correctly, permanently identify for all mankind the nature and relative position of the sun; likewise, Giordano Bruno was the first to identify that the visible stars, the visible components of our galaxy, are suns like our own. Who better to credit than these two men?