Why. Planets of the solar system. How the planets of the solar system got their names The city of Rome was named after

The names of the planets of the solar system: where do they come from?

About the origin of the name of which planet humanity still does not know anything? The answer will surprise you...

Most of the cosmic bodies in the universe got their names in honor of the ancient Roman and ancient Greek deities. Modern names of the planets in the solar system are also associated with ancient mythological characters. And only one planet is an exception to this list: its name has nothing to do with the ancient gods. What space object are we talking about? Let's figure it out.

Planets of the solar system.

Science knows exactly about the existence of 8 planets of the solar system. Not so long ago, scientists expanded this list with the discovery of the ninth planet, the name of which has not yet been officially announced, so let's leave it alone for now. Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, due to their location and gigantic size, are combined into a single, external group. Mars, Earth, Venus and Mercury belong to the terrestrial inner group.

The location of the planets.

Until 2006, Pluto was considered a planet in the solar system, but careful exploration of outer space has changed the idea of ​​​​this object. It has been classified as the largest body in the Kuiper belt. Pluto has been given the status of a dwarf planet. Known to mankind since 1930, it owes its name to Oxford schoolgirl Venice Burney. By voting astronomers, the choice fell on the option of an eleven-year-old girl who proposed to name the planet in honor of the Roman god - the patron of the underworld and death.

Pluto and its moon Charon.

Its existence became known back in the middle of the 19th century (1846), when the cosmic body was discovered by mathematical calculations by John Coach Adams and Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier. The name of the new planet in the solar system caused a discussion between astronomers: each of them wanted to perpetuate his last name in the name of the object. To end the dispute, they offered a compromise - the name of the god of the seas from ancient Roman mythology.

Neptune: The name of a planet in the solar system.

Initially, the planet had several names. Discovered in 1781, they decided to christen it after the discoverer W. Herschel. The scientist himself wanted to honor the British ruler George III with a similar honor, but astronomers were asked to continue the tradition of their ancestors and, like the 5 most ancient planets, give a “divine” name to the cosmic body. The main contender was the Greek god of the sky Uranus.

Uranus.

The existence of a giant planet was known even in the pre-Christian era. Choosing the name, the Romans decided to focus on the God of agriculture.

The giant planet Saturn.

The name of the Roman supreme god is imprinted in the name of the planet of the solar system - the largest of them. Like Saturn, Jupiter has been known for a very long time, because it was not difficult to see a giant in the sky.

Jupiter.

The reddish tint of the planet's surface is associated with bloodshed, which is why the god of war among the Romans gave the name to the space object.

"Red Planet" Mars.

Almost nothing is known about the name of our home planet. Surely we can say that its name has nothing to do with mythology. The first mention of the modern name of the planet is recorded in 1400. It is associated with the Anglo-Saxon term for soil or ground - "Earth". But who called the Earth "earth" - there is no information.

The capital of Italy, the city of Rome, is a historical place, the ancient capital of the Roman Empire, as well as one of the oldest, oldest cities that exist on planet Earth.

Of course, this is a wonderful, wonderful city, which annually attracts millions of tourists and travelers who want to get closer to the beautiful, to get acquainted with its sights, which are literally on every corner in Rome. That is why this city deserves to be mentioned in the framework of our articles, answering some questions that relate to its name.

Why was the city of Rome named Rome?

The city of Rome, Rome or Roma today is known, perhaps, to any person on planet Earth. You can make a mistake and not answer the question of where Madagascar is located, or what is the name of the capital of Australia, but any child probably knows where Rome is located and the capital of which country it is.

But that's why Rome was called Rome, probably not everyone knows. However, now this is not a problem, because below we will deal with this issue.

Considering that the city existed in the times before our era, and to be more precise - in 753 BC, the history of its name is more like a legend. She claims that this city was formed by two brothers, whose names were Romulus and Remus. They were fed by a she-wolf. Despite blood ties, there was enmity between the brothers, which arose because of the unwillingness to share power in the city, which in the future was called Rome. As for the name itself, it was given to the city in honor of Romulus, who defeated his brother in battle.

As you know, in Latin the name of Rome sounds like Rome or Roma, which became a derivative of the name Romulus.

Why is Rome called the "Eternal City"

As St. Petersburg is called the cultural capital and Barcelona the capital of Catalonia, Rome also has its unofficial name, which sounds like the "Eternal City". It is noteworthy that the origin of such a name goes deep into history.

This name arose precisely because Rome, as we have already noted, is one of the oldest cities on the planet. And they began to call the capital of the Roman Empire that way back in the third century BC.

It is also noteworthy that Rome was also called the city on seven hills, since it is located in a very specific area. Initially, the settlement of the first inhabitants of the city was located only on one of the hills - on the Palatine, however, over time, the rest of the nearby hills began to be settled, which led to the fact that Rome spread over all 7 hills, located in relative proximity to each other.

Starting from the Sun, the planets of the solar system are arranged in this order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Previously, it was believed that in the solar system there is also a ninth planet - Pluto. However, in 2006 there was a small revolution in astronomy. Scientists have decided to lower Pluto in its stellar status: now it is not a planet, but a cosmic dwarf.

All the planets of our solar system, with the exception of the Earth, were named after the gods and goddesses of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. Let's see who each of the planets is named after.

Mercury- the closest planet to the Sun in the solar system, revolving around the Sun in 88 Earth days (that is, a year on Mercury lasts 88 Earth days). The planet is named after the ancient Roman god of commerce, swift-footed Mercury, as it moves through the sky faster than other planets.

After depriving Pluto of the status of a planet in 2006, Mercury passed the title of the smallest planet in the solar system.

Venus- the second planet of the solar system with a period of revolution of 224.7 Earth days. Named after Venus, the goddess of love from the Roman pantheon. It is the only one of the eight major planets in the solar system to be named after a female deity. Venus is the third brightest object in the Earth's sky after the Sun and Moon.

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. The fifth largest among all the planets in the solar system. Scientific evidence indicates that the Earth formed from the solar nebula about 4.54 billion years ago and acquired its only natural satellite, the Moon, shortly thereafter. Presumably, life appeared on Earth about 3.9 billion years ago, that is, during the first billion after its occurrence. The Earth got its name in Russian due to its composition, that is, what is called "earth" in the narrow sense of the word. In the Old Slavic language, the root "earth-" was present in such words as "floor" and "bottom". The English word "Earth" was first used as the name of the planet Earth only around 1400, and originated in the Anglo-Saxon language. Then the word "Erda" called the soil or soil.

Mars- the fourth largest planet from the Sun and the seventh largest planet in the solar system; the mass of the planet is 10.7% of the mass of the Earth. Named after Mars, the ancient Roman god of war.

Jupiter- the fifth planet from the Sun, the largest in the solar system. Along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, Jupiter is classified as a gas giant. The planet has been known to people since ancient times, which is reflected in the mythology and religious beliefs of various cultures. The modern name of Jupiter comes from the name of the ancient Roman supreme god of thunder.

Saturn- the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the solar system after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture.

Uranus- the planet of the solar system, the seventh in distance from the Sun, the third in diameter and the fourth in mass. It was discovered in 1781 by the English astronomer William Herschel and named after the Greek god of the sky Uranus, the father of Kronos (in Roman mythology, Saturn) and, accordingly, the grandfather of Zeus (among the Romans, Jupiter).

Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet in the solar system. Neptune is also the fourth largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. The mass of Neptune is 17.2 times, and the diameter of the equator is 3.9 times that of the Earth. The planet was named after the Roman god of the seas.

And finally, the so-called space dwarf - Pluto, not so long ago considered the ninth planet of the solar system, got its name from the ancient Roman god of the underworld of the dead.

We all know the names of the planets of the solar system well, but why were they named that way? Most of the planets were named after Roman gods, with only one exception. The site prepared an article about how the planets got their names.
The solar system includes 8 (recently scientists proved the existence of the 9th planet, but it does not yet have a name) of the planets, of which half belong to the terrestrial group: these are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. They are also called the inner planets, in contrast to the outer giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, located outside the ring of minor planets.

1. Mercury
The closest planet to the Sun in the solar system is named after the ancient Roman god of trade, swift-footed Mercury, as it moves through the celestial sphere faster than other planets.

2. Venus
The second planet in the solar system was named after the ancient Roman goddess of love, Venus. This is the brightest object in the earth's sky after the Sun and the Moon and the only planet in the solar system named after a female deity.

3. Earth
The third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest among all the planets in the solar system has had its current name since 1400, but it is not known who named it exactly that. The English Earth originated from an 8th-century Anglo-Saxon word meaning earth or ground. This is the only planet in the solar system with a name that is not related to Roman mythology.

4. Mars
The seventh largest planet in the solar system has a reddish tint to its surface, imparted by iron oxide. With such a "bloody" association, the object was named after the ancient Roman god of war Mars.

5. Jupiter
The largest planet in the solar system is named after the ancient Roman supreme god of thunder.

6. Saturn
Saturn is the slowest planet in the solar system, which is symbolically reflected in its first name: it was given in honor of the ancient Greek god of time Kronos. In Roman mythology, the god of agriculture Saturn turned out to be an analogue of Kronos, and as a result, this name was assigned to the planet.

7. Uranus
The third largest and fourth largest planet in the solar system was discovered in 1781 by the English astronomer William Herschel. The tradition of naming the planets was continued, and the international community named the new heavenly body in honor of the father of Kronos - the Greek god of the sky Uranus.

8. Neptune
Discovered on September 23, 1846, Neptune was the first planet discovered through mathematical calculations, and not through regular observations. The large blue giant (this color is due to the hue of the atmosphere) is named after the Roman god of the seas.

Pluto in 2006 lost the status of a planet in the solar system and was classified as a dwarf planet and the largest object in the Kuiper belt. It has been in the status of the ninth planet of the solar system since its discovery in 1930. The name "Pluto" was first proposed by an eleven-year-old schoolgirl from Oxford, Venetia Burney. She was interested not only in astronomy, but also in classical mythology, and decided that this name - the ancient Roman version of the name of the Greek god of the underworld - was best suited for a dark, distant and cold world. Astronomers chose this option by voting.

Roman mythology is worthy of our gratitude if only for the fact that it gave names to most of the planets in the solar system. The Romans gave the names of gods and goddesses to five planets that could be seen in the night sky with the naked eye.

What do the Roman names mean?

Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, was named after the chief Roman god, while the reddish color of Mars caused the Romans to identify it with the god of war. Mercury, which makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 88 Earth days, was named after the messenger of the gods, who could move quickly. Saturn - the second largest planet in the solar system after Jupiter, which takes 29 Earth years to make one full circle - was named after the god of agriculture. The Romans named the bright planet Venus after the goddess of love and beauty.

What were the names of Uranus and Neptune?

The other two planets, Uranus and Neptune, were not known to the Romans. They were discovered after the invention of the telescope in the early 1600s, and astronomers were able to study space.

The discovery of Uranus is attributed to the famous astronomer Herschel. The planet was discovered in 1781. The astronomer proposed to name new planet Star of George in honor of the British ruler of that time, King George III. Other scientists wanted to name the planet Herschel after the explorer himself. The name Uranus was recommended by the German astronomer Johann Bode. However, such a name did not receive full recognition until the mid-1800s.

Neptune, the farthest planet from the Sun, was first discovered with a telescope only in 1846 by the German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle. He used the mathematical calculations of the French astronomer Le Verrier and the British scientist John Adams. For some time, the planet was supposed to be named after Le Verrier, but as a result, it received the name of the Roman god of the sea for its bright blue color.

History of Pluto's name

Pluto was classified as a planet only in 1930, but less than a hundred years later, already in 2006, it lost this status. It was named after a Roman god who was the ruler of the underworld. The name of this planet came up with 11-year-old English schoolgirl Venice Burney.

And what about the Earth?

As for the Earth, which is currently home to 7.3 billion people, we owe its name not to Roman or Greek mythology, but Old English or Old Germanic. IN English language the name of the planet - Earth - literally means ground (earth).