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41 of the 118 known elements have names associated with, or specifically named for, places around the world or among astronomical objects. 32 of these have names tied to the places on Earth, and the other nine are named after to Solar System objects: helium for the Sun; tellurium for the Earth; selenium for the Moon; mercury (indirectly), uranium, neptunium and plutonium after their respective ...
The first hour of each day was named after the ruling planet, giving rise to the names and order of the Roman seven-day week. Modern Latin-based cultures, in general, directly inherited the days of the week from the Romans and they were named after the classical planets; for example, in Spanish Miércoles is Mercury, and in French mardi is Mars ...
Therefore, many cultures have recognized it with two names, even if their astronomers realized that it was really one object. [1] In old English, the planet was known as morgensteorra (morning star) and æfensteorra (evening star). It was not until the 13th century C.E. that the name "Venus" was adopted for the planet. [2]
Initially, the names given to minor planets followed the same pattern as the other planets: names from Greek or Roman myths, with a preference for female names. With the discovery in 1898 of the first body found to cross the orbit of Mars, a different choice was deemed appropriate, and 433 Eros was chosen.
For instance, for a large portion of names ending in -s, the oblique stem and therefore the English adjective changes the -s to a -d, -t, or -r, as in Mars–Martian, Pallas–Palladian and Ceres–Cererian; [note 1] occasionally an -n has been lost historically from the nominative form, and reappears in the oblique and therefore in the English ...
The Greeks assigned each planet to one among their pantheon of gods, the Olympians and the earlier Titans: [164] Helios and Selene were the names of both planets and gods, both of them Titans (later supplanted by Olympians Apollo and Artemis); Phainon was sacred to Cronus, the Titan who fathered the Olympians;
One important discovery made at different times in different places is that the bright planet sometimes seen near the sunrise (called Phosphorus by the Greeks) and the bright planet sometimes seen near the sunset (called Hesperus by the Greeks) were actually the same planet, Venus. [7] Animation depicting Eudoxus' model of retrograde planetary ...
The planet Mars is named after the Roman god of war Mars. In Babylonian astronomy, the planet was named after Nergal, their deity of fire, war, and destruction, most likely due to the planet's reddish appearance. [2] Whether the Greeks equated Nergal with their god of war, Ares, or whether both drew from a more ancient association is unclear. [3]