Another (lighter?) Moon question

[Allan_L]

We live in this Solar System and our dominant star is called Sol. Right?

So in respect of the Lunar relationship, is our Moon called Lun ? :question:

[Steffen]

Sol is Latin for Sun.
Luna is Latin for Moon.

Cheers
Steffen.

[ngcles]

Hi Allan,

Yes and no ... but mainly yes.

The Moon's older name is "Selene": after the female Greek deity of the same name. Hence the study of the Moon is often called "Selenography" or "Selenology". Selene was a sister deity to Helios -- the Greek god of the Sun whose parents were the Titans Hyperion & Theia. Fittingly, these last two are now both named Moons of Saturn. Saturn is the Roman god equivalent of the Titan "Chronos" (the father of Zeus -- Jupiter) and the chief deity in the Titan heirachy overthrown by Zeus.

Of course the Romans stole the Greek gods and re-badged them with different names so Selene became the Roman god of the Moon ... Luna while Helios was re-badged Sol Invictus.

And BTW, Helios is the root from which we derive the name for the element Helium -- because Helium was discovered in the spectrum of the Sun's Chromosphere before it was discovered here on Earth.

So ...

Sun = Sol. Of/from the Sun ... Solar

and Moon = Luna. Of/from the Moon ... Lunar

So it's not Lun -- it's "Luna", of course not to be confused with "Lunar".



Hope that helps!


Best,

Les D

[el_draco]

Thats very good, I like that one....:D