Talk:Naming of natural satellites

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Some newer names are unpronunceable in some languages (The Saturn ones), it is possible that with the pressure of some countries these names would change? besides being unpronunceable, they are very ugly and strange. There isnt debate in some countries with this issue? or a kind of seperation between astronomers over the naming of the satellites? -Pedro 20:02, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I expect many Inuit people find European names to be ugly, strange and unpronounceable, but does that mean we should change our names to make them happy? I am not aware of any debates; it was clear that the IAU was running out of Greek names, and also that there was a Eurocentric bias to the nomenclature. I personally think these names are interesting and they have encouraged me to learn more about Inuit mythology in particular. The Singing Badger 21:19, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

• But Greek Mythology is by faar the richer and more interesting and widespread. And it is also translatable to several languages. While I cant even memorize or read some names they are full of consonants which is very odd to Latin languages, consedering that a large number of people worldwide speak a Latin language and much more people ever heard the word Inuit. While Greek they heard it for sure. It would be far more interesting including Egyptian gods instead of that unknown dieties. -Pedro 23:58, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

• Pedro, I think you are underestimating your own intelligence. While the names may look odd to you at first glance, you will find that they are perfectly easy to pronounce if you try (there is even a pronunciation guide provided in this article). They are not 'full of consonants' at all, they alternate consonants and vowels just like Latin languages do (except Thrymr, I'll give you that one!). I think you're having an instinctive response that you'll find to be unfair when you actually try to read the names.
• I also think it's unfair to say Greek mythology is richer and more interesting. Inuit folk tales and legends are amazing and beautiful. You're right that the Greek tales are more widespread, but this is exactly the problem: all the Greek names have been already used up on the thousands of asteroids, moons, etc. That's why they're turning to the myths of other cultures.
• Finally, the fact that many people across the world have never heard of the Inuit is a bad thing. There's too much ignorance in the world. In its own small way, I think the naming of these little moons is a gesture against ignorance. The Singing Badger 18:36, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Why is the Moon excluded from this article?

I know this is a stupid question, but why isn't Earth's moon discussed here? The wikipedia community has a larger than average percentage of people trying to call our moon (the Moon), Luna. I'm guessing these are just sci-fi fans, but perhaps this deserves a brief discussion anyway? Lunokhod 16:52, 8 December 2006 (UTC)