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Posted: |
Nov 28, 2016 - 6:03 PM
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By: |
Metryq
(Member)
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Makes sense to me. I know it may annoy some—like those who whined about Pluto being "demoted" from planet status. I can see where that one might be argued (the IAU definition doesn't make sense), but that's what the IAU is for. There are so many catalogs and names. Sweeping away the old names and settling on one, official name should clarify things. As noted in the article, Rigil Kentaurus is an old, long-established name. "Alpha Centauri" is a constellation designation. I'm reminded of how old some books or sci-fi stories are when I hear Andromeda referred to as a nebula. For that matter, our moon is known officially by the name Moon, not Luna, which is popular in sci-fi. Since "moon" has taken on generic meaning, the Moon should have a name, like Luna.
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Posted: |
Nov 28, 2016 - 6:27 PM
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By: |
Solium
(Member)
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Makes sense to me. I know it may annoy some—like those who whined about Pluto being "demoted" from planet status. I can see where that one might be argued (the IAU definition doesn't make sense), but that's what the IAU is for. There are so many catalogs and names. Sweeping away the old names and settling on one, official name should clarify things. As noted in the article, Rigil Kentaurus is an old, long-established name. "Alpha Centauri" is a constellation designation. I'm reminded of how old some books or sci-fi stories are when I hear Andromeda referred to as a nebula. For that matter, our moon is known officially by the name Moon, not Luna, which is popular in sci-fi. Since "moon" has taken on generic meaning, the Moon should have a name, like Luna. http://www.namethemoon.world/ If there's a legitimate scientific reason for a change, I'm all for it. But it will always be Alpha Centauri to me. (for various reasons) Regarding Pluto, it's demotion was done by a minority on the board, and was hardly a democratic decision. I would also argue the new definition for a Planet is pretty arbitrary. Another reason I don't like Pluto's demotion.
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Funny, I was thinking of something similar: we have a lot of names for fucktards online, but it's messy so I was thinking of narrowing it down to one word: assholes. I took the scientific approach. ;-) Seriously though, lots of people know Alpha Centauri -- that would be a good name to stick with.
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