October 04, 2005

• Further evidence that people are getting stupider. What next? Mary and Rhoda?
• Yeah, but will they lez up?
• O.K.
• Argh, what the hell was that?
• For some reason, this naming choice really shits me off. Now for centuries we have to endure references to that crappy fucking tv show.
• Fanart...the wonderful world of fanart.
• Man, a little harsh? I was charmed by the news story.
• Well, one expects whole planets to be named after something with a little bit more gravitas (pardon pun) than a wildly unhistorical fantasy tv show. I mean, we need class.
• I guess Xena does roll off the tongue better than 2003 UB313... This is all a blatant attempt to get 'popular consent' to name it though - I mean, it will only be called what we call it on a day to day basis wont it? I propose "Planet McDonalds" and the "HP Icy Moon of Death".
• Reminds me a bit of the occasional complaint about silly gene names in Drosophila.
• No, once it gets named, that is what it will be called everywhere, in scientific textbooks, planet catalogues, by astronomers, etc.
• I'm with Chy...this is a stupid name. Hopefully it's just an in-joke in the scientific community. Official names should be decided by non-geeks.
• Hear hear. Although, I would have preferred Mary and Rhoda.
• Settle down. Xena (and Gabrielle) are just nicknames...
• Hello? You people want to give naming rights to the guys who thought up URANUS? Not in my universe, buddy. NOT. IN. MY. UNIVERSE.
• I had a hard time with this article, I was sure it was some sort of joke... "Having a moon is just inherently cool -- and it is something that most self-respecting planets have, so it is good to see that this one does too." Yeah, dude, moons are cool. Like, Venus might not have one, but she's still cool; not eccentric at all, and the third shiniest object in our sky! Like, wow! But Mercury? Man, that one has no moon at all. Plus, he's all pockmarked, and just about the densest in the neighbourhood. So uncool. You'll never see Mercury at my party, fo' sho. Seriously, cool planets? A planet named Xena with a moon named Gabrielle? What is this, the Onion?
• Hot moon-on-planet action! Yow!
• "When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything, the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks..."
• Rest easy folks...

  No official name for the object has yet been approved, although its discoverers have submitted a potential name to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), who oversee astronomical naming conventions. Claims that 2003 UB313 has been named 'Xena' or 'Lila' are incorrect; both have been used informally by its discoverers but neither is the name submitted to the IAU. A ruling on what to name 2003 UB313 is currently being delayed pending decisions on whether to promulgate a formal definition of the term 'planet' and the status of this object under such a definition. [...] Michael E. Brown added later on his website that IAU lacks consensus on what the object is, and even which committee should be charged with approving its name. The committee which oversees major planets has suggested that if this object is classified as a major planet, the naming should continue the Greco-Roman tradition for planets. Brown indicated in a recent article that he would propose the name Persephone if this tradition were to be upheld, despite the fact that this name has been assigned to the 399th known asteroid. (link)

  i would be happy w/ Persephone.
• Hee hee. Am I the only monkey who's really very pleased about this? Xena will purposely collide with other celestial objects in order to kick their ass!
• Well, that's good, then.
• I think naming celestial objects after Disney characters could be amusing. We have just landed on Uncle Scrooge McDuck. Next stop, Eeyore.
• Well, we're actually running out of Roman/Greek names to use for objects in our system. I think all the female ones have pretty much been used up.
• Oh wow... I would move to a planet called Eeyore in a heartbeat.
• Ohh Poooohhh . . .