Will there be a major situation when Astronomers run out of Greek words to name things with?

A complete and total breakdown of the whole naming process.

Will there be a major situation when Astronomers run out of Greek words to name things with?
Well, "real" Astronomers, Astrobiologists, Astrophysicists, and other scientists, usually "name" things with #'s and not Greek words, so that's one to think of, huh? Really, the catalogs names are really #'s and not "names".





All the exoplanets are given the name of #'s, and/or the ends of the names are letters of the alphabet. The beginning of names are usually the constellation in which the planet was "found".
Reply:Many times. But not as bad as particle physics (quarks? really?).





There are many languages that are used in astronomy, to name things.





From the Greek we have basic entities such as





star (from aster = celestial body) same root as asterisk " * "


planets (from "aster planetes" = moving celestial body)


comets (aster cometes = hairy star)


galaxy (from "galaktos" = milk, from the Milky Way, the visible part of our own Galaxy)





Most names of planets and constellations were Latinized in and after the Middle Ages (even if the mythology behind the names is still Greek or even Babylonian).





Many star names are Arabic (armpit of giant = Ibt al Jauzah which became Bed Elgueze and Beit Algueze; now known as Betelgeuse -- even though the g should be hard, most people and astronomers pronounce it as Beetle Juice) The giant is the constellation Orion (in Greek "Oarion" from which we get "warrior" in English, even though the name is often translated as "The Hunter" -- go figure).





So the exclusive use of Greek was abandoned even before Galileo turned the first telescope to the study of astronomy.









Reply:You mean like Omicron Ceti or Alpha Scorpii? They'd probably just use numbers - Flamsteed or Bayer? I never can keep it straight....





If you mean mythological names like the Roman and Greek gods, you have a good point.... Hindu maybe? They have an almost unlimited supply.
Reply:Oh, we just start using them over again. For example, you have the Alpha particle, the Alpha process, the Alpha slopes .... we're just trying to make it as confusing as possible.
Reply:It's already happened.





Most of the Kuiper belt objects get Inuit names like Sedna, and IIRC there are a couple of asteroids with Hindu names. And of course, planetary surface features are frequently named after astronomers, physicists and other people the discoverers felt were worthy enough.
Reply:There are lots of greek names! And when they run out of greek ones, there are still roman ones, egyptian ones, norse ones, hindu ones, chinese ones and native american ones (can you imagine having a star called Kwalak'stoo:qklarak-wolek?). In any case, they already name the more obscure objects using systems of letter and number codes, of which there are potentially billions upon billions. Our ability to record names of objects is increasing a lot faster than the rate at which we're actually finding new objects, and this will probably continue more or less indefinitely.
Reply:no because language and work are like space ...their always expanding...we will have new words





either that or we will use latin
Reply:I think alpha is Persian anyway, they named most of the stars except the numbered ones. And Venus is the Roman version of Aphrodite.





Personally I'd love to see a switch to the Norse Pantheon. I can easily relate to a giant "Jupiter" type planet called "Odin" , a "Saturn" would make a great "Thor" and what is an asteroid headed for earth if not a Valkyrie?





Viking moons named Sven and Olof, rich!


Woah!....Brunhilda!
Reply:Greek language is a dynamic language. Astronomers and nobody else can never run out of Greek words. Greek words can be invented quite easily. There are a lot of prefixes, themes and endings that composed one with the other can create new words with brand new meanings. For example,





stasis(στάσις)= station


ana+stasis= anastasis (ανάστασις)= resurrection


epi+ana+stasis= epanastasis (επανάστασις)= revolution








orizo(ορίζω)=define


dia+orizo= diorizo (διορίζω) = hire


pros+dia+orizo= prosdiorizo (προσδιορίζω) = determine, identify


epi+ana+pros+dia+orizo= epanaprosdiorizo (επαναπροσδιορίζω) = redetermine





delphys(δελφύς)= uterus


a+delphys= adelphos (αδελφός)= of the same uterus= brother


philos(φίλος)=friend


philos+a+delphys=philos+adelphos = Philadelphia (Φιλαδέλφεια)= friendship (love) between brothers
Reply:Try jokes "R" us. Some there may think you're funny instead of silly.

camellia