• Question: Are the planets named after something

    Asked by to Anna, Elaine, Fiona, Kevin, Darren on 24 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Fiona McLean

      Fiona McLean answered on 24 Jun 2014:

      The planets are named after Roman gods and goddesses. This is because thousands of years ago the Romans named Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus and Mercury. The reason that the Romans named those planets is because they could see them in the sky with just their eyes. Later, when more planets were discovered, people decided to keep naming them after the Roman gods.

      The only planet that isn’t named after a god is Earth. Earth’s name comes from old languages. For example the old English word ‘ertha’.

    • Photo: Kevin O'Dell

      Kevin O'Dell answered on 24 Jun 2014:

      As Fiona says, apart from earth, all the plants are named after characters from Greek and Roman theology. But if you were to discover a planet tomorrow, you can’t just name it after your favourite god or goddess, you have to make a proposal to the improbably named ‘International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)’.

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