My Love for the Moon

What is the Official Name of the Moon?
Extracted from, “Do Penguins Have Knees?” Page 19, by David Feldman

”Along with our correspondent, we’ve never known what to call our planet’s satellite. Moon? The moon? moon? the moon? Dorothy?

We know that other planets have moons. Do they all have names? How do astronomers distinguish one moon from another?

Whenever we have a problem with matters astronomical, we beg our friends at two terrific magazines – Astronomy and Sky & Telescope – for help. As usual, they took pity on us. Astronomy’s Robert Burnham, like most senior editors, is picky about word usage:

The proper name of our sole natural satellite is “the Moon” and therefore… it should be capitalized. The 60-odd natural satellites of the other planets, however, are called “moons” (in lower case) because each has been given a proper name, such as Deimos, Amalthea, Hyperion, Miranda, Larissa, or Charon.

Likewise, the proper name for our star is “the Sun” and that for our planet is “Earth” of “the Earth.” It’s OK, however, to use “earth” in lower case whenever you use it as a synonym for “dirt” or “ground.”

Alan MacRobert, of Sky & Telescope, adds that Luna, the Moon’s Latin name, is sometimes used in poetry and science fiction, but has never caught on among scientists or the lay public: “Names are used to distinguish things from each other. Since we have only one moon, there’s nothing it needs to be distinguished from.”

Submitted by A.P. Bahlkow of Sudbury, Massachusetts."