The tricky thing with serious names is that most of the good ones have already been used for asteroids.
And there’s no possible way this could be the tenth planet. Under the current definitions, it’s the ninth, and under the old definitions, it’s at least the eleventh. If we let Pluto back in, then we have to accept Eris, too.
And there’s no possible way this could be the tenth planet. Under the current definitions, it’s the ninth, and under the old definitions, it’s at least the eleventh.QUOTE]
The OP agrees with you – the thread title refers to it as the new ninth planet.
When William Heschel looked for a name for the new planet he’d discovered – the first since the days of the Classical Greeks and Romans – he wanted tio call it “George”*. I say we give it another shot.
Granted, Herschel was just sucking up to his King and Royal Benefactor, George III of Great Britain, but I think we should use it anyway, without specifying who it’s taken from. Americans can imagine (as suggested above) that it’s from George Washington. But it could be any “George”.
What’s more, it frees planets from the tyranny of being named after gods and other mythological figures, and lets them assume common, every day names. You wouldn’t want to have a beer with Jupiter, but you could see hanging out with George.
It also eliminates the question of Where Do We Go From Here? There are LOTS of other names. Once we have George, we can go on to Harry and Fred. We can use women’s names, too. Planet Gladys and Heather.
And it’s easy to expand to other cultures. No arguing about whose mythology we’re going to sift through for names – we can have Andre and Vladimir and Akira and Mohan. The planets will be truly for everyone, if anyone can have their name on a planet.
*Actually, Georgium Sideris. But it’s just “George” to its friends
How about Jocelyn? Jocelyn Bell Burnell should’ve gotten the Nobel prize for discovering pulsars. Having a planet named after her would be a dandy consolation prize.