# "Sedna"?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 15, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514 "2004-03-15T21:47:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/21 "2004-03-16T06:55:13Z")
> [@LivingInThePast](#): > > Sedna? Isn’t that Andes spelled backwards? > > 😃 Damn it **Living** , I was going to say that. In fact, that was one of my first thoughts on seeing the name. Some of those suggested above won’t fly. Vulcan and Nemesis are associated with two non-existing but well-known planets. And I don’t mean anything to do with Star Trek, either. Sometime in the 19th century, someone claimed to have seen a planet orbiting inside of Mercury. They named it Vulcan. Lots of effort was made by others to verify it, but to no avail. It’s pretty much certain it doesn’t exist. Nemesis is supposedly a large brown dwarf in a humongously large orbit that takes it into the Oort Cloud every 26 million years. There it would disturb some comets so they’d come zipping into the inner Solar System and crash into the Earth and cause an extinction event. The only evidence for Nemesis was a supposed periodicity of the said events. It’s generally agreed among astronomers that the statistical analysis that showed the periodicity is flawed. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/22 "2004-03-16T09:08:26Z")
Other Kuiper Belt objects which have already been named include Varuna, after a Hindu god; Ixion, a greek mythological figure, and Quaoar, a name from North American Indian mythology; it is encouraging that these objects are being given names from a wide range of sources. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/23 "2004-03-16T11:36:25Z")
By the way, just how the heck do you pronounce “Kuiper”? Does it rhyme with ‘sweeper’, ‘swiper’ or what? ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/24 "2004-03-16T11:49:34Z")
As it is a typically Dutch name, the Dutch pronounciation would probably be appropriate. Which unfortunately does not have an English equivalent I can think of. If you know French, the Dutch _ui_ sound is rather similar to the French vocals in oeil (eye). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/25 "2004-03-16T12:06:00Z")
kooeeper? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/26 "2004-03-16T12:19:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Hey “Sedna” is not so bad when you consider the planet … “Uranus”. Hey – don’t make fun of “Uranus”. It was almost named “George” (True!!!) Uranus was the first planet to be discovered since classical times. Herschel, who discovered it, wanted to curry favor (brown-nose) with the British king, so he suggested naming it “Georgius Sideris”. Cooler and wiser heads prevailed, and they kept up the mythological connections. Of course, that didn’t stop Percival Lowell from sneakily making the symbol for the planet “Pluto” (and the first two letters of its name) his own initials. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/27 "2004-03-16T12:41:07Z")
Not to nitpick but– Uranus was a Greek god, not Roman, and has no Roman counterpart. (He’s not Atlas!) See [Pantheon](http://www.pantheon.org/areas/genealogy/principal_greek.html) for more details. Also, practically every other name in Roman mythology has been used up in naming asteroids. They’re going to use other cultures’ mythologies out of necessity. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/28 "2004-03-16T13:02:50Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Mr Asimov also thought that elements (especially the Rare Earths) were poorly named. Names such as Dysprosium, Yttrium, Ytterbium, etc were derived form the locations in which they were discovered (mostly Scandinavia). OT, but the etymology of Dysprosium is that it’s new latin based on the greek _dysprositos_ hard to get at. And Terbium, Erbium, Ytterbium and Yttrium aren’t named after the location **s** in which they were discovered. They’re all named after the town Ytterby in Southern Sweden. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/29 "2004-03-16T13:10:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > …Of course, that didn’t stop Percival Lowell from sneakily making the symbol for the planet “Pluto” (and the first two letters of its name) his own initials. [nitpick] Lowell was dead when that planet was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh. [/nitpick] That said, I’m sure it was not coincidental. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/30 "2004-03-16T14:18:45Z")
I was really hoping for Goofy. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/31 "2004-03-16T14:46:57Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > By the way, just how the heck do you pronounce “Kuiper”? Does it rhyme with ‘sweeper’, ‘swiper’ or what? It rhymes with viper and wiper. At least that’s how I say it. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/32 "2004-03-16T15:26:01Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Names such as Dysprosium, Yttrium, Ytterbium, etc were derived form the locations in which they were discovered (mostly Scandinavia). _Dysprosium_ is derived from Greek _dysprositos, hard to get at_. _Yttrium_, _Ytterbium_ and _Erbium_ were named after a village called _Ytterby_ outside Stockholm, Sweden, were they were first discovered together with _Holmium_, which is named after Stockholm. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/33 "2004-03-16T15:31:13Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > It rhymes with viper and wiper. At least that’s how I say it. That’s how it was pronounced on _Star Date_ and _Star Hustler_, too. Back when they were actually on… ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/34 "2004-03-16T15:36:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Hey – don’t make fun of “Uranus”. It was almost named “George” (True!!!) Not almost, it _was_. The name Uranus didn’t come into common usage until 1850, some 69 years following its discovery. I kinda like the fact that Uranus had two names for a while - both _Georgum Sidus_ and the name of its discoverer. Yes, for several decades our fine solar system had Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn… and Herschel. Kinda makes me see a dramatic camera shot panning across these heroic and majestic statues of the gods… only to pan down to a weedy little twerp in Coke-bottle glasses and a short-sleeved oxford shirt. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/35 "2004-03-16T15:38:38Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > All I know is that the planets are named after Roman gods, aside from the earth. I’m all for Inuit sea-godesses, don’t get me wrong, but why the heck can’t people just follow the durn tradition and scrape up some insignificant Roman god for the purpose? Sedna is being described as a provisional name, so if a concensus is reached that it should be considered a planet it could still be named after a Roman god. To me it shouldn’t be a planet. It seems a lot more like a comet. The only reason it’s not is that its orbit doesn’t cross the orbits of the major planets. If it were up to me, I’d demote Pluto and have eight planets and Pluto and Sedna would be planetoids. I think Gustav Holst had it right all along. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/36 "2004-03-16T15:40:07Z")
> [@](#): > > I think Arthur C. Clarke proposed “Persephone” as the name for the next planet out from Pluto, since she was Pluto’s wife. I think a lot of people on this board would have found that appropriate right about now. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/37 "2004-03-16T16:22:27Z")
> [@rsa](#): > > To me it shouldn’t be a planet. It seems a lot more like a comet. The only reason it’s not is that its orbit doesn’t cross the orbits of the major planets. A 2000km diamter comet? Once it gets that big, its something else and that I guess is the whole problem. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/38 "2004-03-16T17:49:56Z")
Sure, haven’t you heard of the elusive “Mother of all Comets”? 😉 Seriously, I think “planetoid” is as good a name as any. ---
**Author:** ![CaptainGeordie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@CaptainGeordie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptainGeordie)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/39 "2004-03-16T18:42:45Z")
I seem to remember that Will Hay, a well-known 1930s British film star and comedy actor was an amateur astronomer and made some interesting discovery in space in the early 30s? Anyone have any more information? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514/40 "2004-03-16T18:56:00Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > I think Arthur C. Clarke proposed “Persephone” as the name for the next planet out from Pluto, since she was Pluto’s wife. Although now that I think about it some more, Clarke used the wrong name, since Persephone is the Greek name. Her Roman equivalent was [Prosperina](http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/eproserp.htm). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sedna/234514.md?page=3)