What is our own galaxy called?

[Pinwheel]

Here's a hairy one!

Our solar system star is called the "Sun" & our planets are all named too! But what is our own Galaxy called & what's it's NGC or Messier number. I call dibs if nobody thought of this...:lol: NGC0000 or M00! We can't call it the Milky way Galaxy because every galaxy seen would have a milky way. :question:

[pluto]

Ahh... The Milky Way...?

[Pinwheel]

I thought of that and so the messier list would have to be M00...:thumbsup:

[Astro_Bot]

Tell you what, Doug: the first person to officially leave the confines of this galaxy gets to name it! You might be waiting a while, though ...... :P

[rustigsmed]

since we spotted it first we can call the milky way, the milky way.

so our cosmic address is something like
Earth
Solar System
Orion arm (?) (region within our galaxy)
The Milky Way (galaxy)
The Local Group (local group of closest galaxies)
The Virgo Supercluster - (supercluster group of galaxies)
The (observable) Universe

;)

Rusty

[Pinwheel]

What no Galactic PO Box number?? ;)

[barx1963]

Historically, when the Messiers list was being compiled in the late 1700's and the NGC/IC catalogues (late 1800s to early 1900s) our galaxy was largely considered to be the entire universe, so cataloguing was mainly concerned with objects considered to be within the Milky Way Galaxy.

It was not until the discovery of Cepheid variable's within M31 that the idea of other galaxies was accepted.

Malcolm

[Varangian]

Isn't our sun named Solaris or just Sol?

I think the Greeks named the Milky Way the Milky Way...but I may be wrong.

[Pinwheel]

So, our galaxy has yet to be named officially....I called Dibs:rofl:

[Pinwheel]

How about this for a name "lots of shopping channels" Galaxy. :rofl::P

[rustigsmed]

Club Doug?

[OzStarGazer]

IIS Galaxy (because we were the first to discuss its name)

[Pinwheel]

"IIS Galaxy" is a goody but the Greeks might have something to say about this...:shrug:

[ZeroID]

Our sun doesn't even have a name. Sol (or Solar) is a Greek\latin derivative meanig 'sun'. All stars are suns to their planets I guess and we give the stars names, Spica, etc etc etc.
So no wonder the aliens can't find us, we haven't got a valid address.
Probably sculling around in Orions Arm trying to check street numbers ... :question:

[julianh72]

Hmmmm.... "Dibs" ... I dunno, it seems to lack a certain gravitas. "Dibs" sounds like a candidate name for a (very) minor planet, but I can't see it catching on as the name for our galaxy!
:lol:

[doppler]

Start by listing it on Wikipedia M00, type Galaxy, common name Milkyway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Messier_objects#Messier_obj ects

[OzStarGazer]

May Dips would be better because what we find in our galaxy are like tasty dips to us... :rofl:

[mental4astro]

The Milky Way is also called by the same name in other languages, of cause with the respective language change - Via Latea in Spanish for one. So with the 'original' Greek term, it could be argued that it is called the Milky Way Galaxy. Professional astronomers also call it such. I guess somewhat by default, :shrug:

BUT! The Greeks were not the first to name what we see in the sky as The Milky Way! There are Australian Aboriginal words that give a 'name' or description to it too. Aboriginal astronomy is very rich in nomenclature. Everything we see in the sky has many, many different names, all according to the different languages spoken. Some saw it as a river, others as a rift or gash in the sky. Some saw it as the place where spirits of the deceased went to, to then look down over Earth, forever then having a direct link with the living (the spirits were taken up to the sky in a canoe. Meteors we see is the canoe returning to Earth). Nocturnal navigation also demanded a very precise set of nomenclature - cooler to travers long distances at night than during the day, something our very own SAS troops do today too and not just for cover.

Other old cultures also name the MW. Those cultures isolated from European influence all did. The Aztecs, Maya and Inca from North and South America all did as an example.

While the Greek name is regarded as 'accepted', it by no means is the only term, or the first.

[speach]

Surely it can't be called a NGC or M as we can't see all of it. Let me clarify M31 or LMC it can be seen as a blob a whole which we can't do with the Milky Way. Anyway the Milky Way is the Milky Way why would we need another name for it? OK yes we have multiple names for other objects M83 = Southern Whirlpool Galaxy.

[Pinwheel]

:rofl::D

[mental4astro]

The Milky Way has no categorising designation. It is just called "the Milky Way Galaxy". No NGC or IC or M or any other designation. Yes, it has galactic type of description, a barred spiral, of which evolutionary type I cannot recall. But it is just the plain old Milky Way Galaxy. That's it.

I guess it is a bit of a quirk of the way that Science, astronomy for that matter, has evolved itself. The ultimate discovery that the galaxies we know today as being 'island universes' is less than 100 years old. Previously they were thought to be 'spiral nebulae' and the such, but just different types of nebula. And as astronomy progressed, even though we came to understand that we ourselves are part of one such 'island universe', no one thought to name it otherwise as MW, and the name Milky Way just became the accepted name, and no other designation has been given. That it is called Milky Way is nothing more than the accepted scientific nomenclature of Greek and Latin origin.

Just 'one of those things', :) :question: :rolleyes:

[The Mekon]

Another vote for NGC 0000!

[mental4astro]

But if its name is still up for grabs, I too agree it should just be called:

"Doug"

No 'galaxy' after tag. Just 'Doug'. :thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

'NGC 0000' - I can see my Argo Navis having a dummy spit over that one! :lol: But it could work as all it would require is the 0hr right ascension to cross directly over the MW somewhere, that's all, :thumbsup: Point zero I guess.

[Pinwheel]

Do I get a "Galaxy tax" from all living creatures able to pay? :D

[GeoffW1]

:rofl:

[OzStarGazer]

No, Tony gets it! :)

[vaztr]

But Tony wants you to collect it from ALL the species in the Galaxy under his Galaxy Services Tax

If you could mail it to him quarterly when your collecting has finished...

:P

[Kunama]

The galaxy we live in is known as "Linnunrata" in Finnish and has been so for millenia. Direct translation " The Bird's Track" or " The Bird's Path"

[Pinwheel]

Boy! the G.S.T paperwork is going to be a real pain...:P

[Astro_Bot]

Actually, "Doug" doesn't sound too bad as a short name, but I suggest we officially name it:

Douglas Adams

after the late author of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[Pinwheel]

You are a wealth of knowledge Alex..:thanx:

[Pinwheel]

Don't Panic, I knew that one..:D

[cometcatcher]

No, I don't see any aliens in Orion's arm. (My Ragdoll kitten is called Orion). :P

[ZeroID]

OK, I know these cats have got a 'personna' but arms ? That's just being way too anthromorphic. :rolleyes:

Lovely cat btw :thumbsup:

[Pinwheel]

Nice pussy, does Orion have a collar like in the movie "MIB"

[PSALM19.1]

How about naming it: canhardlyeverseeitcause'it'salwayss ocloudyinshellharbourexceptwhenthem oonisfull Galaxy....:D

[IanW]

Hate to burst your collective bubbles but the IAU has given the galaxy we live an official name it's "the Galaxy". That is the correct name for it.

In the same way it's "the Moon" (note the capital M) referring to Earth's moon and the official name for our star is, "The Sun".

The IAU for those of you who don't know, is the International Astronomers Union and it's been responsible for the naming of all objects outside of the Earth's atmosphere since 1919

See: http://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming/

[barx1963]

That makes sense, historically (and referring to my earlier post) our galaxy was the only one known, so "The Galaxy" makes obvious sense. And in a way the term "Milky Way Galaxy" is redundant as the term galaxy comes from the Greek word for Milky anyway!

Malcolm

[Pinwheel]

How dull...:sadeyes:

[OzStarGazer]

Yeah, thanks for pointing it out... My buddy The Moon definitely also deserves a nobler name. I will think about it. :)

[rustigsmed]

If that's correct, then I think it needs to be updated ... it sounds pre-E Hubble. We could get a petition going and try and get it overturned.

Even NASA calls our galaxy, 'the Milky Way';

"Our galaxy, the Milky Way (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2009/28/image/c/), is typical:" http://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-are-galaxies/

But the question is, what do we petition it to be? :D

[astroron]

Why do people want to change such a wonderful and historical name for our Galaxy. :question:
We have enough crap names for celestial objects, such as "Silver Dollar,
Silver Coin" for NGC 253. :mad2:
Not happy Jan :(
Cheers:thumbsup:

[doppler]

I think that the original question was not the common name, but was there a messier or ngc number for our local galaxy.

[FlashDrive]

So what ' System ' are we in then .... :D .

[OzStarGazer]

It was both: what is our own Galaxy called & what's it's NGC or Messier number.

[cometcatcher]

"The Solar System" apparently. Yes that's boring too.

[FlashDrive]

......:rofl:

[rustigsmed]

How i understood it astroron was that the 'official' name for our galaxy is 'The Galaxy' ...

[astroron]

Thats What I mean Russell, Leave it as it is, not change it to some crap arsed name just because someone wants it to be named this or that.
The Milky Way,or the Galaxy is just fine by me.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[rustigsmed]

interesting, i've never heard of it used as 'The Galaxy' before just the Milky Way (Galaxy), i'm 33 maybe it fell over favour at some stage in the past 3 decades? :question:

[astroron]

Just our friendly IAU making sure everything has a "proper"name and place so as we can't confuse things.:rolleyes:
Cheers

[OzStarGazer]

I don't like "The" either. It is dull and it sounds like we are the centre of the universe... while in reality we are soooo small... :)

PS: Doug, it looks like you will have to find your own galaxy if you want one named after you. ;)

[astroron]

I don't like "The" either. It is dull and it sounds like we are the centre of the universe... while in reality we are soooo small... :)

Drawing a long bow there mate, :rolleyes:
It's seemed to have been quite exceptable for a couple of thousand years, and I suppose it will be exceptable for another couple of thousand more.
It looks like you are just stuck with it ;)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[OzStarGazer]

To me it's not 100% acceptable, but I don't mind other people's acceptance... :) "Milky Way Galaxy" is fine though... I am not really saying we have to find a new name for it.

[RobF]

Of course if Herschel/Dreyer were compiling the NGC today, or Messier his catalogue, they probably would give the old girl a designation, but as many others have said cepheid variables and island universes were still crazy speculation in the minds of a few crackpots.

We're (mainly) aussies - I like pointing out the Emu to people seeing it at a dark sky site for the first time :)

[astrospotter]

(that title for those who don't know is a reference to the movie 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre')

Milky way is fine or just 'our galaxy. It really does not matter as we are simply a point in the universe and to us it is simply 'our galaxy'.

Because in all the other galaxies if they even know we are here we have some designation on those. Take comfort that we have hundreds of names. Most likely intelligent beings located in one of the thousands of M31 solar systems with intelligent and advanced civilizations have some name for us that is most likely not in any known Earth dialect but feel comfort in that we DO have hundreds of names for our galaxy somewhere else in the other galaxies.

Also, now telescope or optical device of any sort can see our entire galaxy at a single time anyway (even in Deep South that is true) so we cannot point a telescope and thus no name is required. We have many names for pieces of our galaxy just like the LMC does.

I always get a kick out of us on this tiny rock we call Earth thinking we are special in some way in a galactic sense. Get real. We are ALL part of the universe and no one place is 'special'. I hope through astronomy we all get a sense of being PART of the universe and not standing outside it looking in. (I hope to not start a flame but if you really think about it in a universal way, it seems fairly reasonable and I in no way am trying to get down on any specific religion, religion is in general way can be a good thing.).

The NGC numbers are given because they are recognized things we see here from our location many of which are in our own galaxy and generally are smaller than 6 degrees of apparent field of view with LMC and M31 being the odd and rather large apparently large objects.

[Pinwheel]

If I was sitting in a Lamborghini I can't see the whole car however I would know what I'm in. We still should have a NGC or M number just like the Lamborghini would have a registration number plate. IMO

[barx1963]

The issue here is that the Messier Catalogue and the NGC/IC catalogues are historical records. While a number of objects have been added to the Messier catalogue, they are only objects that we know historically Messier actually observed (from his notes etc) and for various reasons hadn't included in his list. The NGC/IC catalogues were an attempt to catalogue all known non stellar objects at the time.While its has been revised and updated over time to correct errors, we cannot add objects willy nilly as that would create confusion.

The IAU has designated an appropriate name so end of story. Remember the NGC/IC and Messier catalogues contain only a tiny minority of objects named and catalogued.

Cheers

Malcolm

[speach]

How about 43

[vaztr]

I propose a new catalog and designate it as the first member

If I was an egotist it would be VAZTR 1, but I think they'll be more favour for...

DOUG 1

Now it's up to Doug to find more galaxy's that he lives in so he can keep the new catalog going :P

VAZ

[astroron]

Anyone can start a catalogue if they want too,even you Andrew,getting it recognised is another thing.
There are probably fifty or more catalogue's out there so one or two more won't make too much difference.
Go ahead with your VATZR 1 catalogue,I hope you enjoy the journey. ;)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[N1]

Actually, some parts of our home galaxy already have demoninations, most notably perhaps M24/ IC4715. That could just be expanded to mean the whole thing? Such expansion of meaning is common. Consider "guy", which used to mean one man (Fawkes), now almost any male human.

[Pinwheel]

You know I never suggested it be named after me, all I suggested is If it hasn't been officially named then I call dibs to name it...:rofl:

Also I never in a minute thought this thread would become so controversial & make it to 63 posts...Well I'm impressed any way..:thumbsup:

[julianh72]

There's nothing to stop you creating your own catalogue, naming it after yourself, and including anything you want (including objects with existing common names). Don't forget how stunningly successful the Caldwell catalogue became very shortly after Patrick (Caldwell-)Moore first published it in 1995.

Of course, whether anyone else uses it, and whether you can convince people like Celestron, Meade, SkySafari, Stellarium etc to reference it in their supported databases is another matter entirely! :shrug: