Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: neilep on 23/10/2016 10:36:02
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Dearest Spacey Bods ,
As a sheepy I of course luff Space, its like well big and makes for a pleasant view on a cloudless night in a light pollution free zone.
Do you not think that some of the labels attributed to spacey stuff is a little ambiguous and need bringing up to date ?
eg :
Big Bang !...it was not a bang innit ?...it was not an explosion which is what most people think innit ?
Dark Matter....is it really dark and is it really matter ?
Dark Energy ....is it really dark and Is it really energy ?
Making the two above have similar names makes ewe think they related in some way innit ?
Black Hole ......they not completely black and not really holes are they ?
With all the modern info that is discovered, do you not think that renaming things would be appropriate to bring them up to date ?
whajafink ?
hugs and shmishes
mwah mwah mwah
Neil
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Space is big and very diverse
Glad they called it the Universe
Maybe there should be some legislature
About changing the spacey nomenclature
lol
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Nova a star that momentarily brightens up
Supernova a star that brightens up then explodes !
Hypernova badass version of a supernova
The latter two denote an explosion the original "Nova" term does not
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Dearest Spacey Bods ,
As a sheepy I of course luff Space, its like well big and makes for a pleasant view on a cloudless night in a light pollution free zone.
Do you not think that some of the labels attributed to spacey stuff is a little ambiguous and need bringing up to date ?
eg :
Big Bang !...it was not a bang innit ?...it was not an explosion which is what most people think innit ?
The term was originally coined by supporters of the steady state model. It was meant to be denigrating. The proponents of the expanding universe model decided they liked it and adopted it, Much the way the song "Yankee Doodle" was written by the British to make fun of Americans, and the Americans took it on as a song of pride.
Dark Matter....is it really dark and is it really matter ?
Dark as opposed to luminous, yes. And the present evidence is that it is likely to be particulate in nature, So unless we can definitely rule this out, matter is as good a term as any other.
Dark Energy ....is it really dark and Is it really energy ?
Making the two above have similar names makes ewe think they related in some way innit ?
We already had dark matter, so when the accelerated expansion of the Universe was discovered, dark energy seemed the natural choice. Once we actually learn more about it, we may change the name. But then again, we might not. We still use the term cathode ray tube, when it long been known that "cathode rays" are actually electrons, and we never renamed X-rays even though the X originally stood for "unknown". It may cause some confusion among the general public, but as long as those in the field know different, I don't think the similarity in names really manners.
Black Hole ......they not completely black and not really holes are they ?
A number of terms have been used over time "collapsar" and "frozen star", are a couple. Black Hole is just the one that stuck. Some times a name is chosen for the way it flows rather than its accuracy of description. The quark was named from a line in "Finnegan's Wake", and the term google for 10^100 was invented by a mathematician's young son.
Nova a star that momentarily brightens up
Supernova a star that brightens up then explodes !
Hypernova badass version of a supernova
The latter two denote an explosion the original "Nova" term does not
Nova has a long historical significance, It means "new" and was used to designate any time a new or "guest" star briefly appeared in the sky. This was long before anyone even knew what the stars actually were, let alone what was causing the new one. In the same way, asteroids got their name because they were just star-like points of light even in telescopes and "aster" means "star". But long after we know that they are small rocky bodies, the name persists.
With all the modern info that is discovered, do you not think that renaming things would be appropriate to bring them up to date ?
whajafink ?
hugs and shmishes
mwah mwah mwah
Neil
xxxxxxxxxx
Space is big and very diverse
Glad they called it the Universe
"Uni" means "one", and has nothing to do with size or diversity. "Universe" basically means "the one unified whole".
Maybe there should be some legislature
About changing the spacey nomenclature[/b]
lol
The IAU decides on the nomenclature( they are the ones who recently came up with the new definitions that degraded Pluto from planet to dwarf-planet.) I think it would take quite a bit for them to change some of these names due to their long time usage, and in some cases, the historical significance.
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Janus
Thank you for your kind responses.
Even giving attention to my frivolous verse !!.....now that is attention to detail !
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So some newnames for old stuff
Big bang - "ongoing universal fizzle, or maybe not"
Dark matter - "weird stuff, possibly"
Dark energy - "non-weird property of weird stuff"
Black hole - "really, really dense lump that sucks"
Nova - "something that happened long ago and far away"
Supernova - "something that happened so long ago that it was over and the audience was leaving before we saw it happening"
Hypernova - Olympic opening ceremony, vastly overblown and pointless showbiz so that there's no money left for the actual games. See "black hole in the nation's economy".
Face it, the old names were at least succinct.
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Thanks alancalverd for your insight ! ;)
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A couple of other "spacey" terms might also come under consideration for re-labelling:
1. "ASTEROID".
2. "PLANETARY NEBULA"
These terms were coined in the 18th Century by William Herschel. "Asteroid", because it looked like a star in his telescope.
And "Planetary nebula", because it (vaguely) looked like a planet.
Obviously both terms are scientifically wrong. "Asteroids" aren't stars, and "Planetary Nebulae" aren't planets.
Despite this, the terms are resistant to change, as they've got entrenched. There was an attempt to replace "asteroid" by "minor planet", but it didn't succeed, and nowadays would cause confusion with the new term "dwarf planet".