Readers offer far-out names for new planet

Readers offer far-out names for new planet
By Alison apRoberts -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, August 6, 2005
Story appeared in Scene section, Page K1

Sacramento Bee readers know how to make a newcomer feel welcome. We
received a meteor shower of suggested names for our solar system's
just-discovered planet.

The scientist who led the team that discovered the planet also shared
his nickname for the new planet. (You have to keep reading to find
out; we want to keep the suspense going.)

After all, even a number-loving scientist might find it hard to warm
up to the planet's current designation - 2003 UB313. All those numbers
seem just a little too cold (not to mention hard to say quickly). Of
course, the distant orb - the farthest known object in the solar
system - is pretty cold. It's made of rock and ice, is about 1,860
miles across and somewhat larger than Pluto.

It is the 10th planet to be welcomed into our solar neighborhood.

Here's a sampling of names suggested by readers.

(Sorry, folks, but the actual honor of christening the planet will go
to the scientist who found it. Of course, he might take one of your
suggestions. It could happen.)

• Heidi: "Because she's been hiding for so long"; from Pat Stilwell of
Fair Oaks.

• Shouldhavemadetheleftturn-atalbuquerque; Arewethereyet and
Whereswaldo; from Greg Schmierer of Rocklin.

• Darnufoundme: Another compound-word name suggestion, this one from
Steven Bryans of Sacramento.

• Ubeenew: Inspired by the UB part of the planet's current
designation; from Esther Williams of Elk Grove.

• Planet Clai After the B-52s 1979 song of the same title (lyrics
include: "Planet Claire has pink air/All the trees are red/No one ever
dies there/No one has a head."); from Hugh Robinson of Rosemont.

• Zelinda: In memory of Zelinda Nathan, nominated by her sister Sandi
Haslett of Citrus Heights.

• The Planet That Must Not Be Named, Siriusly Far or Dumbledore; from
the Perez-Dominguez family of Antelope: mom and dad Virginia
Perez-Dominguez and Abel Dominguez and their kids, Christina and
Julian Perez and Athena Dominguez. They are, in case you hadn't
guessed, muggle fans of Harry Potter.

• 2-UB3: "Like C-3PO in 'Star Wars' "; from William Moseley of
Stockton.

• Erroneus: "Just in case the astronomers are mistaken"; from Chuck
Schilling of Vaca-ville.

• Brrrr: Perfect name for a cold planet. "The only question is, how
many r's?"; from Glen Hand of Sacramento.

• The Planet Formerly Known as Prince, or Arnold ("Wasn't he Mr.
Universe?"); from Janet Ciarcia of Greenhaven.

There were several repeated name ideas. Some were partisan (and witty)
suggestions to name the planet after particular politicians - and then
send them there.

There also were multiple nominations for "Vulcan" for reasons both
astrological and "Star Trek"-ological.

There were enough names of mythological gods - from Janus to Zeus - to
fill Mount Olympus.

Quite a few suggested that it was time for a female mythological
namesake, including Aphrodite, Persephone and Hera.

Several people were inspired by the number 10 (in honor of the 10th
planet), and suggested X, Ten and Decca.

TV provided the inspiration for the planet's nickname used by its
finder Mike Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy at the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

"We've always called it Xena," Brown said during a phone interview. "I
was a big fan of the show when it was on," Brown said of the TV show
"Xena: Warrior Princess." (The show - starring Lucy Lawless as a
fearless Greek fighter in armored underwear - went out of orbit in
2001.)

Brown and his team in January discovered that the object he had
studied for several years was in fact a planet. (There is still
considerable debate about which objects revolving around a star should
be considered planets, and whether this new object should be welcomed
to the ranks.)

Brown doesn't expect Xena to become the planet's official name, but
the name is typical of the far-out names planetary scientists enjoy
slapping on the faraway objects they study.

"We always use silly names," he said. There are two other objects he's
been studying that are called Santa and Easter Bunny. When Santa was
discovered to have a satellite, the scientists called it Rudolph, of
course.

When it came to Xena, Brown said he liked the idea of another female
planet in the solar system. "Only Venus is a female," he noted.

For his role in the discovery, Brown has won the privilege of
nominating a name for the new planet to the International Astronomical
Union, which has the job of officially christening it. He has already
submitted a name, and if the Union rejects it, he says, he can try
again until it accepts one.

Brown says tradition calls for a name from creation mythology, so he's
been reading up - and has a list of possibilities.

For now, he's keeping the name top secret, just like the planet he
discovered used to be.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/s...14199188c.html


===
"To buy an island is the same as courting a woman. You can never explain exactly why you love her. It's chemistry--something you cannot define--a feeling that you can stay forever."
-- Farhad Vladi, Islands (mag) Jul/Aug 2005

Ablang (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message
:

• Planet Clai After the B-52s 1979 song of the same title (lyrics
include: "Planet Claire has pink air/All the trees are red/No one ever
dies there/No one has a head."); from Hugh Robinson of Rosemont.
True statements of course (look up "null set"). Until the first manned
expedition that is...

There also were multiple nominations for "Vulcan" for reasons both
astrological and "Star Trek"-ological.
The name has already been given to the sub-mercurial planet which is
supposed to have been seen on a number of occasions but never positively
identified or its orbit tracked.

--
A couple of questions. How do I stop the wires short-circuiting, and what's
this nylon washer for?

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