[Homer Simpson]Neeeeeerrrds!!![/Homer Simpson]
I can’t remember for sure, but on Art Bell they talk about this occasionally. Isn’t a common name for the planet Xenu?
In fact, Uranus isn’t a Roman god at all. He is a Greek god, the father of Cronos and Grandfather of Zeus.
I thought that as well but according to Wikipedia Uranus is the Latin name for the Greek god Ouranos. Link. That seems to imply the Romans were aware of him and gave him a spot in their pantheon.
Well…sorta. Link. From the Wikipedia article:
And Cerowyn, I didn’t mean to imply that Apollo, Juno, Minerva and Vulcan were the only names left. Thanks for the list tho.
From that link: “His [Uranus’s] equivalent in Roman mythology was Coelus.”
“Uranus” may be the Latin spelling, but the god it refers to is Greek.
Sure, all us Tellurians hail from Tellus. Anyone who’s read E.E. Doc Smith knows that!
Coelus is the Roman equivalent of the Greek Ouranos as god of the sky, right? If Uranus is the Latin spelling is it so unreasonable to think Latin speakers (Romans) had some tradition of honoring or worshiping him too? Why give him a Latin name if they didn’t have a use for him seperate from those characteristics attributed to Coelus? 
I always understood that most of the Roman gods were basically stolen from the Greeks anyway with most of them being renamed.
As long ans they don’t name it Mondas.
:eek:
Xenu is Scientology’s bad old Galactic Overlord. You’re probably thinking of planet X, Niburu
Earth was supposed to collide wiith, or have its orbit changed by Nibaru back in May 2003. We’re still here. 
Although not a Roman god how about naming the planet DMV ? (For Department of Motor Vehicles).
This would be an ironic name for the planet because the DMV is so swift and efficient at processing licenses, registries, etc it would seem incongruous that a planet named DMV would take so long to make one orbit. :rolleyes:
Poor Quaoar and Sedna - they get no respect.
Chiron seems to have been forgotten too.
I think Chiron is a moon of Pluto, poor thing.
And I think y’all are going about this wrong. Think of the opportunity.
A few bucks change hands and suddenly the IAU announces the existence of our newest planetary neighbor…Microsoft!
“Starbucks.”
Jonathan Chance
No, you are thinking of Charon which is Pluto’s moon discovered in 1978 by James Christy.
Chiron is a rather strange object orbiting between Saturn and Uranus. At first it was thought to be an asteroid, then it was thought to be a comet. It is now officially classed as what astronomers call a centaur. Here’s the wikipedia article on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2060_Chiron
Wow with things like Chiron, Sedna and Quaoar floating out there, the Solar System seems stranger all the time.
Yuggoth. 'Nuff said…
Because the Romans originally had gods like “Melvin, God of Cheese” and “Bernard, God of Mustard”. They went to Greece and saw that they had such great gods. They also had the bigger army. And the rest is history…
Don’t forget Jeff, God of Biscuits.
“Fortuna” doesn’t seem too bad, seeing all the “fickle” controversy about the existance of a 10th planet, and whether bodies like it and Pluto even qualify as planets.
Plus, we can just add “O, Fortuna” to Holst’s Planets, and we’ll almost have a full set.
Here’s a list of names already in use. Apollo’s already taken (#1862), as is Minerva (#93) and Juno (#3), Vulcan’s still available, but not really appropriate for such a cold body. Given that it’s a planet and a moon that’s been discovered (depending upon how you define “planet” of course), one possibility I really like is “Lenny and Carl.” 
Well,
…it is late and since I started this thread I suppose it is time to suggest the obvious.
Planet Claire.