[Rob_K]

Good discussion, and some good humour on all sides! Just my two bob’s worth, I see a definite place for common names. For some reason, we need to have a name for everything, be it a disease, a plant or a galaxy – to see it and appreciate it is not enough! Proper and ordered nomenclature is necessary in all fields of science including astronomy, but only in science. The natural world is full of wonders, but they don’t belong to science – science is only a construct designed to facilitate our understanding of the environment (everything!) in which we live.

Those dealing in their field with scientific nomenclature on a daily basis have no trouble with Latin, NGC numbers etc. Of course there has and always will be a touch of exclusivism in this – "he who controls the jargon controls the field" – a product of our strange human brains & psyche. But most people need common names.

For the average punter whose interests are fairly shallow and over a wide field of subjects, ordered scientific nomenclature is a pain and actually a barrier to participation. We have descriptive common names for a very good reason, because it is a form of reinforcement in the memorising process. Numbers don’t do this. How many times have you walked around a garden with a group of friends, and one keeps spouting the Latin names till you want to scream "But what the hell is it!!!"?

Needless to say, I’m a little troubled by the shortage of common names for our Southern celestial wonders. So in the interests of stirring the pot some more, I suggest "The Great Pearl" for OC and "The Toucan’s Eye" for 47Tuc!!

Cheers -