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Old 21-05-2014, 03:48 PM
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Pinwheel (Doug)
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What is our own galaxy called?

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... NGC0000 or M00! We can't call it the Milky way Galaxy because every galaxy seen would have a milky way.

Last edited by Pinwheel; 21-05-2014 at 04:04 PM.
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Old 21-05-2014, 03:50 PM
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Ahh... The Milky Way...?
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Old 21-05-2014, 03:54 PM
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Ahh... The Milky Way...?
I thought of that and so the messier list would have to be M00...
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Old 21-05-2014, 03:56 PM
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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 ......
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Old 21-05-2014, 03:58 PM
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rustigsmed (Russell)
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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
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Old 21-05-2014, 04:03 PM
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Originally Posted by rustigsmed View Post
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
What no Galactic PO Box number??
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Old 21-05-2014, 04:05 PM
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barx1963 (Malcolm)
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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
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Old 21-05-2014, 04:05 PM
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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.
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Old 21-05-2014, 04:07 PM
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Originally Posted by barx1963 View Post
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
So, our galaxy has yet to be named officially....I called Dibs
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Old 21-05-2014, 04:10 PM
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How about this for a name "lots of shopping channels" Galaxy.
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Old 21-05-2014, 04:10 PM
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Quote:
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So, our galaxy has yet to be named officially....I called Dibs
Club Doug?
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Old 21-05-2014, 04:13 PM
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IIS Galaxy (because we were the first to discuss its name)

Last edited by OzStarGazer; 22-05-2014 at 07:47 AM.
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Old 21-05-2014, 04:27 PM
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"IIS Galaxy" is a goody but the Greeks might have something to say about this...
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Old 22-05-2014, 06:13 AM
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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 ...
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Old 22-05-2014, 06:18 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinwheel View Post
So, our galaxy has yet to be named officially....I called Dibs
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!
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Old 22-05-2014, 06:40 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinwheel View Post
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... NGC0000 or M00! We can't call it the Milky way Galaxy because every galaxy seen would have a milky way.
Start by listing it on Wikipedia M00, type Galaxy, common name Milkyway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...essier_objects
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Old 22-05-2014, 06:46 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by julianh72 View Post
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!
May Dips would be better because what we find in our galaxy are like tasty dips to us...
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Old 22-05-2014, 07:56 AM
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A different take on the MW.

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,

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.

Last edited by mental4astro; 22-05-2014 at 08:07 AM.
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Old 22-05-2014, 08:03 AM
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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.
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Old 22-05-2014, 08:11 AM
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Pinwheel (Doug)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeroID View Post
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 ...
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