Planets, moons and other objects and the origins of their names.

In this presentation I am going to look at the origins of the names of each of the planets, moons and other objects in our Solar System.

Mercury: Mercury or Hermes messenger to the gods

Phobos is named after the Greek god Phobos, a figure that represents fear in Greek myth. Son of Ares/Mars. Deimos is named after the Deimos, a figure that represents dread in Greek myth. A son of Mars/Ares.

Saturn has 62 known moons the largest are: Mimas the Son of Gaia (mother nature or mother earth). Enceladus a giant and son of Gaia, was disabled by a spear thrown by Athena in a war with the gods and the giants. Tethys is one of the titans. Dione named after the titan, one of the titan in Greek myth. Rhea named for the mother of the gods, wife of Cronus. Titan or Helios, Homer calls him Titan. He is the personification of the sun. Iapetus named after a titan in Greek myth.

Ceres: the god of plants Pluto: Ruler of the underworld, in greek was known as Hades. Brother of Zeus/Jupiter and Neptune/Poseidon. Has three moons Charon (ferryman of the Dead), Nix (Greek goddess of darkness and night, Mother of Charon) and Hydra (was named after the 9 headed serpent that battled Hercules). Eris: named after the Greek goddress Eris who is the personification of Strife and discord. It was informally named Xena with its moon called Gabrielle. The moon would later be renamed Dysnomia, after the Greek goddess of lawlessness who was Eris’s daughter.\ Haumea: is named after the patron goddess of the island of Hawai’i. Where it was discovered at. She is the goddess of fertility and childbirth. Has 2 moons Hi’iaka and Namaka, they are named after other Hawaiian goddesses. Makemake: was named Makemake after the creator of mankind and god of fertility in the mythos of the Rapanui, the native people of Easter Island. It has no moons. Sedna: named after the Inuit goddess of the sea. This is the one of the most distant object in the solar system. Orcus: is named after the god of the dead in Etruscan and Roman Mythology. Quaoar: named after the Tongva creator god.