Naming astronomical objects and features in the future

[iiandyiiii]

In this article, astronomers are considering naming features of Pluto after Star Trek characters. This makes me wonder- as more and more interesting planets (and other objects) are discovered around the galaxy, how will we name them all? Traditionally, at least in the solar system, they’re named after gods and creatures of mythology- but might modern popular culture creations, like Kirk and Spock, and perhaps Frodo and Samwise, get their own planets or moons some day? Might our descendants explore the rugged features of planet Chewbacca?

[Don_t_Panic]

Well, we already have the asteroid 2309 Mr. Spock. However, it apparently wasn’t named after the character, but after the discoverer’s cat:

The asteroid’s name does not come directly from the character of Mr. Spock in Star Trek, but rather indirectly from the discoverer’s male cat who was named after the science fiction character. Like his namesake, the feline Mr. Spock was, according to Gibson, “imperturbable, logical, intelligent, and had pointed ears”.

Then again, asteroid names can be pretty weird. See also, for instance, 9007 James Bond, 12818 Tomhanks or 8353 Megryan.

Also, they’ve started in on the Tolkien names for mountains on Titan. My favorite is Doom Mons, named after Mount Doom:

Doom Mons is named after Mount Doom, a volcano that appears in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional world of Middle-earth, most prominently in The Lord of the Rings. The name follows a convention by the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature that Titanian mountains are named after mountains in Tolkien’s works. Other examples of Titanian mountains or mountain ranges named after Tolkien’s works include Erebor Mons, Irensaga Montes, Mindolluin Montes, Misty Montes, Mithrim Montes, and Taniquetil Montes. The name of Mount Doom was formally announced for the Titanian mountain on November 13, 2012.

[h.sapiens]

There’s also the established tradition of naming the moons of Uranus after Shakespearean characters.

Moons of Uranus.

[Diceman]

There’s only so many Greek and Roman gods. It’s a given that at some point they’ll need to start casting around for other naming sources. How about names from Star Wars? Alderaan, Tatooine, Hoth, Yavin…

[Don_t_Panic]

Well, they might want to run through some other pantheons to start with. I think the Norse gods have been neglected in astronomy so far. It would be cool to have a colony on the planet Thor. And what about the Egyptian gods? Anubis or Osiris would make good planet names.