IAU To Uwingu: You Can't Name That Martian Crater Either 125
RocketAcademy writes "The International Astronomical Union has thrown a tantrum over a plan to crowdsource names for craters on Mars. The IAU gives official scientific names to craters, but it has only bothered with craters that have 'scientific significance.' The science-funding platform Uwingu has launched a campaign to come up with popular names for the remaining craters. For as little as $5, a member of the public can name one of the craters on Uwingu's map, with the proceeds going to fund space science and education. This caused the IAU to issue a statement condemning such crowdsourcing efforts. The IAU pointed out that it did allow the public to vote on names for two of Pluto's moons, in the past. In that case, however, the IAU rejected the winning name (Vulcan)."
Last year, the IAU got into a spat with Uwingu over naming exoplanets. Sounds like the old name a star scam, on Mars.
Established by convention (Score:4, Insightful)
Why does this nonsense still come up? (Score:5, Insightful)
Achieving a name recognized by somebody other than you is a somewhat more complex problem, usually requiring a certain amount of give-and-take in terms of "I'll accept your stupid idea if you endure mine" type arrangements.
For all the histrionics about it, Nobody was somehow magically anointed the Super Name Czar by some magically authoritative process. Some organizations have their shit together, and any names in a given domain not endorsed by them are pretty much just private nicknames, some don't; but that's it.
Re:Dancing on the head of a pin (Score:4, Insightful)
Who's going to know what they were named a thousand years from now, and how many times will those names be changed by people yet to be born
Outside of America it's pretty common to live in places named thousands of years ago.
"Tantrum"? (Score:5, Insightful)
Even by the dry standards of academic discourse this is pretty meek:
Recently initiatives that capitalise on the public’s interest in space and astronomy have proliferated, some putting a price tag on naming space objects and their features, such as Mars craters. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) would like to emphasise that such initiatives go against the spirit of free and equal access to space, as well as against internationally recognised standards. Hence no purchased names can ever be used on official maps and globes. The IAU encourages the public to become involved in the naming process of space objects and their features by following the officially recognised (and free) methods.
Re:Award all naming rights to the first colonists (Score:5, Insightful)
So? Who gave the IAU the authority? What legal power do they have? I can create my own list of names for planetary bodies. If I get most people to use my list instead of the IAU's, what id going to happen? Nothing.
Btw, I am currently accepting bids for this solar systems' planets. Get them while they are cheap.
Re:Dancing on the head of a pin (Score:3, Insightful)
Even in the U.S. it is possible to find place names (nearly) that old. American Indian names that are still in use are not hard to find, although the pronunciation tends to be corrupted.