The names are all based on human naming conventions for astronomical bodies or regions, so while your own alien species might use different naming conventions, this generator sticks to the 3 most used types. The first type are names of Greek origin. They're usually named after mythological figu...
The tiny, 1.5-km wide moon that NASA's Galileo mission discovered and photographed around the asteroid Ida no longer has to go by the nondescript appellation of “it.” The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has formally bestowed the name of Dactyl on Ida's moon. Dactyl is derived from...
Nova has the feel of both newness, from its meaning, and great energy as an astronomical term for a star that increases suddenly in brightness before fading. Origin: English Meaning: "by the ash tree" Description: Nash is an English surname whose sound puts it right in step with currently...
Those five planets plus the moon and sun made seven major astronomical bodies so it was natural to use these seven names when the seven-day week arrived. Improve your English grammar, vocabulary and more with EF English Live. Get started for free Sunday The first day of the week was named...
When did man name the days of the week? The ancient Babylonians named the days of the week. The 28-day lunar cycle was broken into four weeks, each consisting of seven days. The days of the week were named after the celestial bodies which the Babylonians observed: the Sun, ...
While the planet Uranus is fairly easy to spot fromEarth, even its largest moons are tough to observe according to theBritish Astronomical Association. Four of the Uranian moons, Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, and Ariel, can be seen with medium to large telescopes and some care. The latter two ...
Examples of such efforts include the development of the Curiosity Mars rover, the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and its moons, and the development of major space-based astronomical observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1957 used the fact that his ...
Lastly, here are some interesting calendrical facts that famed astronomical calculator Jean Meeus has compiled concerning the phases of the moon. All are cyclical, the most noteworthy being the so-called Metonic Cycle that was independently discovered by the Greek astronomer Meton (born about 460 B...
Previously, the "dwarf planet" Pluto (beyond Neptune) was considered to be a full-fledged planet and the solar system was said to have nine planets. Pluto had been discovered as a "new" planet in 1930 but was effectively downgraded by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.Home...
any one of five points in the plane of a system of two large astronomical bodies orbiting each other, as the Earth-moon system, where the gravitational pull of the two bodies on an object are approximately equal, and in opposite directions. A solid object moving in the same velocity and ...