We live in a world in which everything seems so familiar and established that we never think about why the things around us are named that way. How did the objects around us get their names? And why was our planet called “Earth” and not otherwise?
First, let’s find out how names are given now. After all, astronomers discover new things, biologists find new plant species, and entomologists find insects. They also need to be given a name. Who is dealing with this issue now? You need to know this to find out why the planet was called "Earth".
Toponymy will help
Since our planet is a geographical entity, let us turn to the science of toponymy. She is studying geographical names. More precisely, she studies the origin, meaning, and development of the toponym. Therefore, this amazing science is in close interaction with history, geography and linguistics. Of course, there are situations when the name, for example, of a street, is given just like that, by accident. But in most cases, toponyms have their own history, sometimes going back centuries.
The planets will give the answer
When answering the question of why the Earth was called Earth, we must not forget that our home is He is part of the planets of the solar system, which also have names. Perhaps, by studying their origins, it will be possible to find out why the Earth was called Earth?
Regarding the most ancient names, scientists and researchers do not have an exact answer to the question of how exactly they arose. Today there are only numerous hypotheses. Which of them is correct - we will never know. As for the names of the planets, the most common version of their origin is this: they are named after the ancient Roman gods. Mars - the Red Planet - received the name of the god of war, who cannot be imagined without blood. Mercury, the fastest planet, revolving faster than others around the Sun, owes its name to the lightning-fast messenger of Jupiter.
It's all about the gods
To what deity does the Earth owe its name? Almost every nation had such a goddess. The ancient Scandinavians - Jord, the Celts - Echte. The Romans called her Tellus, and the Greeks called her Gaia. None of these names are similar to the current name of our planet. But, answering the question of why the Earth was called Earth, let us remember two names: Yord and Tellus. They will still be useful to us.
Voice of Science
In fact, the question of the origin of the name of our planet, with which children so love to torment their parents, has interested scientists for a long time. Many versions were put forward and smashed to smithereens by opponents, until a few remained that were considered the most probable.
In astrology, it is customary to use the name of planets. And in this language, the name of our planet is pronounced as Terra(“earth, soil”). In turn, this word goes back to the Proto-Indo-European ters meaning “dry; dry". Along with Terra the name is often used to refer to the Earth Tellus. And we have already encountered it above - this is what the Romans called our planet. Man, as an exclusively land-based creature, could name the place where he lives only by analogy with the earth, the soil under his feet. It is also possible to draw analogies with the biblical tales about God’s creation of the earth’s firmament and the first man, Adam, from clay. Why was the Earth called Earth? Because for humans it was the only habitat.
Apparently, it was on this principle that the current name of our planet appeared. If we take the Russian name, then it comes from the Proto-Slavic root land-, which translated means “low”, “bottom”. Perhaps this is due to the fact that in ancient times people considered the Earth to be flat.
IN English the name of the earth sounds like Earth. It comes from two words - erthe And eorthe. And those, in turn, descended from the even more ancient Anglo-Saxon erda(remember how the Scandinavians called the goddess of the Earth?) - “ground” or “soil”.
Another version of why the Earth was called Earth says that man was able to survive only thanks to agriculture. It was after the advent of this activity that the human race began to develop successfully.
Why is the Earth called the nurse?
The Earth is a huge biosphere inhabited by diverse life. And all living things that exist on it feed on the Earth. Plants take the necessary microelements from the soil, insects and small rodents feed on them, which, in turn, serve as food for larger animals. People are engaged in agriculture and grow wheat, rye, rice and other types of plants necessary for life. They raise livestock that eat plant foods.
Life on our planet is a chain of interconnected living organisms that do not die only thanks to the Earth-nurse. If a new one begins on the planet ice age, the likelihood of which scientists have again begun to talk about after unprecedented cold this winter in many warm countries, then the survival of humanity will be in doubt. The ice-bound land will not be able to produce a harvest. This is a disappointing forecast.
Planets of the Solar System
According to the official position of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the organization that assigns names to astronomical objects, there are only 8 planets.
Pluto was removed from the planet category in 2006. because There are objects in the Kuiper Belt that are larger/equal in size to Pluto. Therefore, even if we take it as a full-fledged celestial body, then it is necessary to add Eris to this category, which has almost the same size as Pluto.
By MAC definition, there are 8 known planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
All planets are divided into two categories depending on their physical characteristics: terrestrial planets and gas giants.
Schematic representation of the location of the planets
Terrestrial planets
Mercury
The smallest planet in the solar system has a radius of only 2440 km. The period of revolution around the Sun, equated to an earthly year for ease of understanding, is 88 days, while Mercury manages to rotate around its own axis only one and a half times. Thus, his day lasts approximately 59 Earth days. For a long time it was believed that this planet always turned the same side to the Sun, since periods of its visibility from Earth were repeated with a frequency approximately equal to four Mercury days. This misconception was dispelled with the advent of the ability to use radar research and conduct continuous observations using space stations. The orbit of Mercury is one of the most unstable; not only the speed of movement and its distance from the Sun change, but also the position itself. Anyone interested can observe this effect.
Mercury in color, image from the MESSENGER spacecraft
Its proximity to the Sun is the reason why Mercury is subject to the largest temperature changes among the planets in our system. The average daytime temperature is about 350 degrees Celsius, and the nighttime temperature is -170 °C. Sodium, oxygen, helium, potassium, hydrogen and argon were detected in the atmosphere. There is a theory that it was previously a satellite of Venus, but so far this remains unproven. It does not have its own satellites.
Venus
The second planet from the Sun, the atmosphere is almost entirely composed of carbon dioxide. It is often called the Morning Star and the Evening Star, because it is the first of the stars to become visible after sunset, just as before dawn it continues to be visible even when all the other stars have disappeared from view. The percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 96%, there is relatively little nitrogen in it - almost 4%, and water vapor and oxygen are present in very small quantities.
Venus in the UV spectrum
Such an atmosphere creates a greenhouse effect; the temperature on the surface is even higher than that of Mercury and reaches 475 °C. Considered the slowest, a Venusian day lasts 243 Earth days, which is almost equal to a year on Venus - 225 Earth days. Many call it Earth's sister because of its mass and radius, the values of which are very close to those of Earth. The radius of Venus is 6052 km (0.85% of Earth's). Like Mercury, there are no satellites.
The third planet from the Sun and the only one in our system where there is liquid water on the surface, without which life on the planet could not have developed. At least life as we know it. The radius of the Earth is 6371 km and, unlike other celestial bodies in our system, more than 70% of its surface is covered with water. The rest of the space is occupied by continents. Another feature of the Earth is tectonic plates, hidden under the planet's mantle. At the same time, they are able to move, albeit at a very low speed, which over time causes changes in the landscape. The speed of the planet moving along it is 29-30 km/sec.
Our planet from space
One revolution around its axis takes almost 24 hours, and complete walkthrough in orbit lasts 365 days, which is much longer in comparison with its closest neighboring planets. The Earth's day and year are also accepted as a standard, but this is done only for the convenience of perceiving time periods on other planets. The Earth has one natural satellite - the Moon.
Mars
The fourth planet from the Sun, known for its thin atmosphere. Since 1960, Mars has been actively explored by scientists from several countries, including the USSR and the USA. Not all exploration programs have been successful, but water found at some sites suggests that primitive life exists on Mars, or existed in the past.
The brightness of this planet allows it to be seen from Earth without any instruments. Moreover, once every 15-17 years, during the Confrontation, it becomes the brightest object in the sky, eclipsing even Jupiter and Venus.
The radius is almost half that of Earth and is 3390 km, but the year is much longer - 687 days. He has 2 satellites - Phobos and Deimos .
Visual model of the solar system
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Sun
The Sun is a star that is a hot ball of hot gases at the center of our Solar System. Its influence extends far beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto. Without the Sun and its intense energy and heat, there would be no life on Earth. There are billions of stars like our Sun scattered throughout the Milky Way galaxy.
Mercury
Sun-scorched Mercury is only slightly larger than Earth's satellite the Moon. Like the Moon, Mercury is practically devoid of an atmosphere and cannot smooth out the traces of impact from falling meteorites, so it, like the Moon, is covered with craters. The day side of Mercury gets very hot from the Sun, while on the night side the temperature drops hundreds of degrees below zero. There is ice in the craters of Mercury, which are located at the poles. Mercury completes one revolution around the Sun every 88 days.
Venus
Venus is a world of monstrous heat (even more than on Mercury) and volcanic activity. Similar in structure and size to Earth, Venus is covered in a thick and toxic atmosphere that creates a strong greenhouse effect. This scorched world is hot enough to melt lead. Radar images through the powerful atmosphere revealed volcanoes and deformed mountains. Venus rotates in the opposite direction from the rotation of most planets.
Earth is an ocean planet. Our home, with its abundance of water and life, makes it unique in our solar system. Other planets, including several moons, also have ice deposits, atmospheres, seasons and even weather, but only on Earth did all these components come together in a way that made life possible.
Mars
Although details of the surface of Mars are difficult to see from Earth, telescope observations show that Mars has seasons and white spots at the poles. For decades, people believed that the bright and dark areas on Mars were patches of vegetation, that Mars might be a suitable place for life, and that water existed in the polar ice caps. When the Mariner 4 spacecraft arrived at Mars in 1965, many scientists were shocked to see photographs of the murky, cratered planet. Mars turned out to be a dead planet. More recent missions, however, have revealed that Mars holds many mysteries that remain to be solved.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the most massive planet in our solar system, with four large moons and many small moons. Jupiter forms a kind of miniature solar system. To become a full-fledged star, Jupiter needed to become 80 times more massive.
Saturn
Saturn is the farthest of the five planets known before the invention of the telescope. Like Jupiter, Saturn is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Its volume is 755 times greater than that of the Earth. Winds in its atmosphere reach speeds of 500 meters per second. These fast winds, combined with heat rising from the planet's interior, cause the yellow and golden streaks we see in the atmosphere.
Uranus
The first planet found using a telescope, Uranus was discovered in 1781 by astronomer William Herschel. The seventh planet is so far from the Sun that one revolution around the Sun takes 84 years.
Neptune
Distant Neptune rotates almost 4.5 billion kilometers from the Sun. It takes him 165 years to complete one revolution around the Sun. It is invisible to the naked eye due to its vast distance from Earth. Interestingly, its unusual elliptical orbit intersects with the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto, which is why Pluto is inside the orbit of Neptune for about 20 years out of 248 during which it makes one revolution around the Sun.
Pluto
Tiny, cold and incredibly distant, Pluto was discovered in 1930 and was long considered the ninth planet. But after discoveries of Pluto-like worlds that were even further away, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.
Planets are giants
There are four gas giants located beyond the orbit of Mars: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. They are located in the outer solar system. They are distinguished by their massiveness and gas composition.
Planets solar system, the scale is not respected
Jupiter
The fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in our system. Its radius is 69912 km, it is 19 times more than Earth and only 10 times smaller than the Sun. The year on Jupiter is not the longest in the solar system, lasting 4333 Earth days (less than 12 years). His own day has a duration of about 10 Earth hours. The exact composition of the planet's surface has not yet been determined, but it is known that krypton, argon and xenon are present on Jupiter in much larger quantities than on the Sun.
There is an opinion that one of the four gas giants is actually a failed star. This theory is supported by the most large number Jupiter has many satellites – as many as 67. To imagine their behavior in the planet’s orbit, you need a fairly accurate and clear model of the solar system. The largest of them are Callisto, Ganymede, Io and Europa. Moreover, Ganymede is the largest satellite of the planets in the entire solar system, its radius is 2634 km, which is 8% greater than the size of Mercury, the smallest planet in our system. Io has the distinction of being one of only three moons with an atmosphere.
Saturn
The second largest planet and the sixth in the solar system. Compared to other planets, its composition is most similar to the Sun chemical elements. The radius of the surface is 57,350 km, the year is 10,759 days (almost 30 Earth years). A day here lasts a little longer than on Jupiter - 10.5 Earth hours. In terms of the number of satellites, it is not much behind its neighbor - 62 versus 67. The largest satellite of Saturn is Titan, just like Io, which is distinguished by the presence of an atmosphere. Slightly smaller in size, but no less famous are Enceladus, Rhea, Dione, Tethys, Iapetus and Mimas. It is these satellites that are the objects for the most frequent observation, and therefore we can say that they are the most studied in comparison with the others.
For a long time, the rings on Saturn were considered a unique phenomenon unique to it. Only recently it was established that all gas giants have rings, but in others they are not so clearly visible. Their origin has not yet been established, although there are several hypotheses about how they appeared. In addition, it was recently discovered that Rhea, one of the satellites of the sixth planet, also has some kind of rings.
The names of the planets of the solar system came to us from the Roman and Greek mythology. With the exception of Earth, all the planets in the solar system are named after ancient gods. The five planets visible to the naked eye (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) have been observed by humans throughout human history, and different cultures they were called differently. Today's names of these 5 planets come to us from Roman culture. The Romans named these planets based on their movements and appearance. Prepared presentation by Anton Panin 5 “B”
As for the name “Earth,” it arose from the ancient root “zem-,” which can be translated as “floor” or “bottom.” In English, our planet is called the word “Earth,” which originates from the Anglo-Saxon “erda,” meaning “soil.” Then this word changes to “eorthe”, then to “erthe”. As a result, Earth, familiar to English speakers, was first used only a little over ten centuries ago.
Jupiter, like other planets, has had many names. different cultures: “Mulu-babbar” in Mesopotamian culture, “Sui-Sin” in Chinese, “Star of Zeus” in Greek. The largest planet in the solar system received its final name in honor of the supreme god Jupiter, the god of sky and light.
When Uranus and Neptune were discovered, several names for each planet were considered and used until one became the standard. William Herschel, who discovered Uranus, wanted to name it after the king George III. Other astronomers called it "Herschel" in honor of its discoverer. Astronomer Johann Bode suggested that it would be more appropriate to use the mythological name Uranus, which would fit harmoniously with the five planets named in antiquity. However, despite the proposal, the name Uranus was not widely used until 1850.
Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Many names have been suggested, including: Lowell, Atlas, Artemis, Perseus, Vulan, Thanatala, Idana, Kronos, Zimal and Minerva (suggested by the New York Times). The name Pluto was suggested by 11-year-old Venetia Burney of Oxford, England, and then recommended to astronomers by observatory staff. Pluto won, perhaps because being named after the god of the underworld is a good fit for the outermost planet.
A couple of times I came across stores named “Mercury” and “Neptune”, as well as the “Mars” cinema. There are planets with similar names in our solar system. Using information from viewed popular science TV shows and Wikipedia, let’s look at which characters astronomical objects are named after, as well as shopping and entertainment establishments.
Origin of the names of the terrestrial planets
These planets are so called because they are made up of solid, and not from gases. Let's make a list of them in order of distance from the Sun.
- Mercury. This small planet has a thin atmosphere and sudden temperature changes. It is named after the ancient Roman god of trade Mercury for its rapid rotation and resourcefulness. In 3 months, Mercury manages to complete a full revolution around the Sun.
- Venus. In the pre-dawn haze you can see this beautiful, glowing
celestial body similar to a star. It was for its appearance that the planet was named after goddess of love. - Earth. This is our home planet. That's what it's called soil, soil. It is in
Ancient farmers named the entire planet after the surface fertile layer. - Mars. For its ominous blood-red hue, the planet received the name god of war. I don’t know the origin of the name of the cinema :)
Origin of the names of the gas giant planets
These planets are large in size compared to the Earth and consist of gases. There are also 4 of them:
- Jupiter. Named after main god on Olympus, probably for its size and beauty .
- Saturn. Has beautiful gas cloud rings that can be easily
look through a telescope. According to legend, Saturn, god of agriculture, used to lead Olympus until Jupiter overthrew him. The planet is named after the ex-ruler for its majestic appearance. - Uranus. It was discovered in the 18th century and named after sky god.
- Neptune. The most distant planet was discovered in the 19th century and was named after god of the sea for its blue color.
Pluto according to modern classification, it is not a planet, but an asteroid, named after the ancient Roman dungeon god.
Roman mythology deserves our gratitude if only for the fact that it gave names to most of the planets in the solar system. The Romans gave the names of gods and goddesses to the five planets that could be seen in the night sky with the naked eye.
What do the Roman names mean?
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, was named after the main Roman god, while the reddish color of Mars caused the Romans to identify it with the god of war. Mercury, which makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 88 Earth days, was named after the messenger of the gods, who could move quickly. Saturn, the second largest planet in the solar system after Jupiter, which takes 29 Earth years to complete one full circle, was named after the god of agriculture. The Romans named the bright planet Venus in honor of the goddess of love and beauty.
What were Uranus and Neptune named?
The other two planets, Uranus and Neptune, were unknown to the Romans. They were discovered after the telescope was invented in the early 1600s and astronomers were able to study the cosmos.
The discovery of Uranus is attributed to the famous astronomer Herschel. The planet was discovered in 1781. The astronomer proposed calling the new planet George's Star in honor of the British ruler of that time, King George III. Other scientists wanted to name the planet Herschel after the explorer himself. The name Uranus was recommended by the German astronomer Johann Bode. However, the name did not gain full recognition until the mid-1800s. 
Neptune, the farthest planet from the Sun, was first discovered using a telescope only in 1846 by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Halle. He used mathematical calculations by the French astronomer Le Verrier and the British scientist John Adams. For some time they wanted to name the planet in honor of Le Verrier, but as a result it received the name of the Roman god of the sea for its bright blue color.
History of the name Pluto
Pluto was classified as a planet only in 1930, but less than a hundred years later, already in 2006, it lost this status. It was named after the Roman god who was the ruler of the underworld. The name of this planet was invented by 11-year-old English schoolgirl Venice Bernie.
What about Earth?
As for the Earth, which is currently home to 7.3 billion people, we owe its name not to Roman or Greek mythology, but to Old English or Old Germanic. In English, the name of the planet - Earth - literally means ground.