# SOLar Systems? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2007, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586 "2007-08-06T05:32:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/1 "2007-08-06T05:32:13Z")
I always thought any group of planets orbiting a star was called a solar system. Then it occurred to me that the name of the star around which the earth orbits is “Sol”. Are other groups of planets which orbit different stars “solar systems” or is there a more astronomically correct term? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/2 "2007-08-06T05:47:57Z")
“Solar system” is pretty much a generic term, just as “earth” is a pretty generic term for soil/ground. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/3 "2007-08-06T06:09:20Z")
Call them “star systems” if you prefer. And talk like Captain Kirk when you do. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/4 "2007-08-06T06:10:10Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] I always thought any group of planets orbiting a star was called a solar system. [/quote] Right. And said star is **a s** un. > [@](#): > > Then it occurred to me that the name of the star around which the earth orbits is “Sol”. Right, and Sol is also **the S** un. Just as using the word “sun” does not necessarily mean one is referring specifically to the Sun, using the world “solar” does not necessarily mean one is referring specifically to Sol. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/5 "2007-08-06T06:12:53Z")
Thanks Tuck. But I am familiar with the common usage, that is why I asked if there is a more “astronomically correct term”. If “solar system” is an accurate scientific description of another group of planets orbiting another star please point me to the appropriate source material. This is GD not IMHO. I would accept that answer from you if I was asking about old cars. I am not trying to be pissy. But I can’t agree with your reasoning. If we were on Mars and I asked you to bring me some “earth” you better not bring me some dust from right outside the spaceship. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/6 "2007-08-06T06:18:56Z")
[QUOTE=Gary T] Right. And said star is **a s** un. Right, and Sol is also **the S** un. Just as using the word “sun” does not necessarily mean one is referring specifically to the Sun, using the world “solar” does not necessarily mean one is referring specifically to Sol. [/QUOTE] Jeebus Gary, that was the whole point of my question. Was that unclear? Bryan- Are you saying “Star System” is more accurate? Or are you you just being your usual witty self? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/7 "2007-08-06T06:35:01Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] Bryan- Are you saying “Star System” is more accurate? Or are you you just being your usual witty self? [/QUOTE] Can’t I be both, like the late Earl Warren? A google for “star system” finds the phrase used on any number of scholarly-looking sites (once you skim out the ones about Hollywood), so if someone tries to tell me it’s _not_ an “official” term, I’d ask them for a cite as well as an official definition of “official” and then I’d say “screw them” and use it anyway. It’s useful enough as a label - a star system is a stable astronomical configuration with one or more stars and objects orbiting it/them. A specific system can be identified by its star(s), so there’s the Polaris system, the Rigel system, the Vega system (of course, in the unlikely event these stars have no other bodies under their influence, “system” is moot) and the very familiar system centered on the star called Sol; the Solar system. But if someone wants to use small-s “solar system” generically, let 'em. I just think “star system” sounds cooler. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/8 "2007-08-06T06:49:30Z")
Thanks Bryan, and I agree with you, and I really do enjoy your wit, but gosh darn it, I have done a google search to. This is GQ I am not looking for an opinion, I am looking for an answer. Are you saying that your post is factual? And that you are in a position to know? Cause if so I will accept it (sort of) or are you giving me your opinion? My question is basically will students in an advanced astronomy class snicker at me if I refer to another group of planets as a solar system? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/9 "2007-08-06T07:05:25Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] My question is basically will students in an advanced astronomy class snicker at me if I refer to another group of planets as a solar system? [/QUOTE] You will not be snickered at if you use a term that is also commonly used in peer reviewed scholarly publications: Terms such as [solar systems](http://www.springerlink.com/content/t340372847857614/), [extra-solar systems](http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0204352), and [planetary system](http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/journal/issues/ApJ/v526n2/40673/40673.text.html) seem to be actively used. Terms such as [star system](http://www.springerlink.com/content/m313q101g6456474/) and [stellar system](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v386/n6620/abs/386052a0.html) seem to generally refer to systems with more than one star, but this is not always so. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/10 "2007-08-06T07:10:41Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] Are you saying that your post is factual? [/QUOTE] Well, define “factual”. This isn’t a math problem with a tidy unambiguous answer; it’s about arbitrary labeling and which source has sufficiently acceptable authority. If wikipedia has any weight, I’ll point that the “Solar System” page specifically describes Sol-Mercury-Venus-Earth… etc. and that it has a link to the “Star system” page, with more generic information. If not wikipedia, various [nasa.gov](http://nasa.gov) pages casually use “star system” generically, reserving “Solar system” for _our_ system specifically. I don’t _think_ anyone in an astronomy class will snicker at a generic use of “solar system”, but I’ll bet at least one of them will nitpick (or at least consider nitpicking) that “solar” should be specific to Sol. I would. ---
**Author:** ![Puzzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@Puzzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puzzler)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/11 "2007-08-06T07:19:51Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] My question is basically will students in an advanced astronomy class snicker at me if I refer to another group of planets as a solar system? [/QUOTE] They might, if they’re prone to snickering… However, you can always tell them that [NASA](http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/solarsystem_worldbook.html) also refer to those systems as “Solar systems”: > [@NASA](#): > > A solar system is a group of heavenly bodies consisting of a star and the planets and other objects orbiting around it. We are most familiar with our own solar system, which includes Earth, eight other major planets, and the sun. Another (and maybe more general) term is [Planetary Systems](http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/other.html). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/12 "2007-08-06T07:26:14Z")
In light of Puzzler’s cite, I drop the “reserving” in my earlier post. I was going by the first five pages of a google search, all of which appeared to use “Solar system” (capitalized) just for ours. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/13 "2007-08-06T09:33:22Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] Thanks Tuck. But I am familiar with the common usage, that is why I asked if there is a more “astronomically correct term”. If “solar system” is an accurate scientific description of another group of planets orbiting another star please point me to the appropriate source material. This is GD not IMHO. I would accept that answer from you if I was asking about old cars. I am not trying to be pissy. But I can’t agree with your reasoning. If we were on Mars and I asked you to bring me some “earth” you better not bring me some dust from right outside the spaceship. [/QUOTE] And if your reaction to the ground shaking on Mars is to shout, “Marsquake!” you can expect people to club you like a harp seal. Words and conventions quite often hang on for a very long time in languages, even in scientific fields. Because of a mistake by Ben Franklin, our terminology incorrectly describes how electrical current flows. The proper term for an enlisted person in the Navy is still sailor, even though sails stopped being used around a century ago. The word “vitamin” traces it’s origins to an incorrect assumption about the chemical makeup of vitamins. We refer to “oceans” as if they were seperate bodies of water, even though (we now know) that they’re all connected. Someone on Mars _won’t_ say, “Bring me some mars.” Why? Because it’ll be an ingrained habit with them to use “earth” as a synonym for soil, and they, unlike readers of a science fiction story, _won’t_ need a reminder that they’re no longer on Earth. The evidence for it will be all around them. Someone from Earth on a planet orbiting the star Rigel won’t say, “Rigel system” they’ll say, “solar system” because they’ve _always_ said “solar system” to refer to the system they’re in. They’ll use “Rigel system” to explain to someone _outside_ of that system where they are, ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/14 "2007-08-06T10:01:24Z")
Does the name “Sol” have any formal legitimacy? I know science fiction writers (and, apparently, the Romans) have used that name, but does, say, the International Astronomical Union recognise it? I’ve never heard an astronomer refer to it as anything other than “the sun”. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/15 "2007-08-06T10:25:38Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] Does the name “Sol” have any formal legitimacy? I know science fiction writers (and, apparently, the Romans) have used that name, but does, say, the International Astronomical Union recognise it? I’ve never heard an astronomer refer to it as anything other than “the sun”. [/QUOTE] Well, it’s the Latin name and often used in languages where it doesn’t mean “the sun” to indicate “our sun and not any other.” When come back, bring English Academies of the Language. You don’t have them? Then it’s whatever usage does… ---
**Author:** ![Puzzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@Puzzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puzzler)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/16 "2007-08-06T10:49:59Z")
IANA astronimer, but what **Nava** said. [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol) has this to say: > [@wiki](#): > > Sol (IPA: [sɔl]) was the name or personification of the Sun in Latin, and can also refer to sunlight, sunbeam, or east (the direction where the Sun rises). The Latin name is widely known, but not common in general English language usage, although the related adjective solar is more common. ‘Sol’ is more frequently used in science fiction writing, as a formal name for the specific star, since in many stories the local sun is a different star and thus the generic term “the sun” would be ambiguous. By extension, the Solar System is often referred to in science fiction as the “Sol System”. > > The term sol is used by planetary astronomers to refer to the duration of a solar day on Mars. A search for _Sol_ on NASA’s site results in spanish and mars-related pages, so I beleive wiki here. ---
**Author:** ![Puzzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@Puzzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puzzler)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/17 "2007-08-06T11:06:59Z")
Addendum: found [this](http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=289) interesting link (from Cornell), that addresses both the original OP and the follow-up Sol issues: > [@](#): > > The name of our planet is the Earth. The name of our moon is the Moon. The name of our solar system is the Solar System. > Notice that I capitalize them, because when used as names, they are proper nouns. This also helps us distinguish **…** between our Solar System and any other solar systems (since any system containing a star and a planet or a planet-forming disk can be called a solar system.) > This is the English language usage approved by the International Astronomical Union, the body in charge of naming celestial objects. **…** > You may read or hear people using Luna for the Moon, or Terra or Gaia for the Earth, or Sol for the Sun, but in English-speaking countries, these are poetic terms, often seen in science fiction stories, but not used by astronomers in scientific writing. **…** indicate snipped parts. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-systems/414586/18 "2007-08-06T11:37:25Z")
When I see a reference to “extra-Solar planets”, I know it means planets orbiting other stars; but I also see “other solar systems”. Maybe the developing convention is to use an upper-case “Solar” to refer specifically to our Sun, and a lower-case “solar” as a generic term. If you’re using it verbally, I guess you have to make sure the meaning is clear from context.