(Spelling changed from Pasiphaë to Pasiphae July 2009.)ĭaughter of the river god Asopus. Zeus made approaches to her as a bull (taurus). The name was suggested by Flammarion.Ī Rhodian nymph who bore three sons of Zeus.ĭaughter of King Orchomenus, a paramour of Zeus, and by him the mother of the giant Tityus. She had as a favorite animal a goat which is said by some authors to have nourished Jupiter. Ganymede then became the cupbearer of the Olympian gods.īeautiful daughter of Lycaon, she was seduced by Jupiter, who changed her into a bear to protect her from Hera's jealousy.Ī naiad who nursed the new-born Jupiter. Galileo (who evidently observed the combined image of Io and Europa the previous night)īeautiful young boy who was carried to Olympus by Jupiter disguised as an eagle. When Europa climbed on his back he swam with her to Crete, where she bore several children, including Minos. Galileo (Simon Marius probably made an independent discovery of the Galilean satellites at about the same time that Galileo did, and he may have unwittingly sighted them up to a month earlier, but the priority must go to Galileo because he published his discovery first.)īeautiful daughter of Agenor, king of Tyre, she was seduced by Jupiter, who had assumed the shape of a white bull. Io, maddened by the fly, wandered throughout the Mediterranean region. But Hera recognized Io and sent a gadfly to torment her. Io, the daughter of Inachus, was changed by Jupiter into a cow to protect her from Hera's jealous wrath. The largest and most massive of the planets was named Zeus by the Greeks and Jupiter by the Romans he was the most important deity in both pantheons. Names of outer satellites with a prograde orbit generally end with the letter "a" (although an "o" ending has been reserved for some unusual cases), and names of satellites with a retrograde orbit end with an "e." Satellites in the Jovian system are named for Zeus/Jupiter's lovers and descendants. The Little Prince, Napolean-Eugene-Louis-Jean-Joseph Bonaparte (1856-1879), was the son of Eugenia de Montijo de Guzm\'an and Napoleon III. In various accounts of Greek mythology, Linus is considered to be the son of the Muse Kalliope and the inventor of melody and rhythm. The name is thought to honor the wife of the vice director of the Paris Observatory at that time. The name was suggested by a staff member of the Paris Observatory who first computed an orbit for Mathilde. Galileo imaging and infrared science teams. Named for a group of mythological beings who lived on Mount Ida, where the infant Zeus was hidden and raised (according to some accounts) by the nymph Ida. Ida is also the name of a mountain on the island of Crete, the location of the cave where Zeus was reared. Named for a nymph who raised the infant Zeus. Named for a resort on the Crimean Peninsula. Selected Asteroids (of the Main Belt) and their Satellites Body This outer Martian satellite was named for one of the horses that drew Mars' chariot also called an "attendant" or "son" of Mars, according to chapter 15, line 119 of Homer's "Iliad." Deimos means "fear" in Greek. Named for one of the horses that drew Mars' chariot also called an "attendant" or "son" of Mars, according to chapter 15, line 119 of Homer's "Iliad." This Greek word means "flight." Other civilizations also named this planet from this attribute for example, the Egyptians named it "Her Desher," meaning "the red one." Named by the Romans for their god of war because of its red, bloodlike color. The names of the moons of Mars and the English translations of the names were specifically proposed by their discoverer, Asaph Hall, and as such, they have been accepted and retained under the current IAU nomenclature. The Moon is known as Luna in Italian, Latin, and Spanish, as Lune in French, as Mond in German, and as Selene in Greek. The name Earth comes from the Indo-European base 'er,'which produced the Germanic noun 'ertho,' and ultimately German 'erde,' Dutch 'aarde,' Scandinavian 'jord,' and English 'earth.' Related forms include Greek 'eraze,' meaning 'on the ground,' and Welsh 'erw,' meaning 'a piece of land.'Įvery civilization has had a name for the satellite of Earth that is known, in English, as the Moon.
Other civilizations have named it for their god or goddess of love/war. This planet was considered to be the brightest and most beautiful planet or star in the heavens. Named Mercurius by the Romans because it appears to move so swiftly. This page shows information about planetary bodies named by the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN), and about bodies named by the IAU Committee on Small Body Nomenclature that have surface features named by the WGPSN. Mercury | Venus | Earth | Mars | Asteroids | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Dwarf Planets Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers