Space

An Interview

20 Comments

…with the moon.

And, by the way, I don’t want to start yet another long and dumb argument, but I am not going to capitalize it. Capitalize Luna, capitalize Selene, but not moon.

Because “moon” isn’t its name. It’s “the moon.” The word takes a definite article. We don’t say, as Tarzan might, “Me going to Moon.” We say, “Me going to the moon.” When we use the definite article, at least in context, we all know which moon we mean (if it were a discussion about Jupiter and its satellites, then we would know from context that it wasn’t Luna). When we stop using the definite article for it, and it gets officially named “Moon,” then I’ll start capitalizing it. I don’t expect that to happen any time soon.

20 thoughts on “An Interview”

  1. I agree with not capitalising the word moon (though I would disagree with the spelling of the word capitalise 😉 ), but your rule may need more work. What about the United States, or the Republic of Honduras?

  3. “We are going to moon”

    Somehow that conjures up a totally different image. 🙂

    Congratulations, you’ve got yourself a long and dumb argument!

  4. Ahhhh, the Paul weighs in. 😉

    “Moon” isn’t its name, either.

    What about the United States, or the Republic of Honduras?

    Those are official formal names, and they are unique. “Moon” is not. Many planets have them.

  5. I think the formal rule is that you don’t capitalize “sun”, “earth”, or “moon” unless they’re being discussed with other bodies (e.g., Saturn), in which case the terms are capitalized.

    I have tended to capitalize all three increasingly over the years, thinking it rather silly–especially in the Earth’s case–to not capitalize names. But that’s me, not the rule.

    The Hague?

  6. I’m conflicted about “Earth”, because it’s both the name of our planet and a synonym for dirt; capitalizing would depend on context.

    “Sun” I also don’t know; I’ve heard that it’s official name is “Sol”, but then I read an article about the need to officially name it. But, also, if you were on another planet, would you say, “the sun” to refer to your star, or you would you say, “the star”? Does “sun” mean “the star around which I’m currently orbiting”? Would you say, “the sun of that system”?

    “moon” I agree with whole-heartedly. I’ve had this argument before on this subject (with very intelligent and reputable people in NewSpace).

    For the record, my Mac dictionary doesn’t like “capitalise”. You’re snark level had me totally convinced you were right, but I have to go with the authority. 🙂

  7. Wikipedia is unequivocal about this (not that Wikipedia is necessarily authoritative) :

    The proper English name for Earth’s natural satellite is, simply, the Moon (capitalized).

    They cite as references documents published by the International Astronomical Union and the USGS Astrogeology Research Programs.

    After reviewing the rules of capitalization, it seems to me that the only one that applies is the one for proper names. So, it would seem the question comes down to whether the word moon is a proper name when applied our moon. Who is the ultimate authority on that question? I don’t know, but given it’s unique importance among the universe of all moons to denizens of Earth, not to mention the special place it has in my heart, I am more than happy to honor the Moon with that status.

  8. It’s unfortunate that Earth doesn’t have at least one more natural satellite (remember when we had to specify ‘artificial’ satellite? [Sputnik-1 headline: ‘Reds Orbit Baby Moon’] Today a man-made object is the given understanding for the word…), we might have thought in terms of proper names for them, from (almost literally) day one.

    I pretty much agree with Pro Libertate and when necessary (especially when I try to write fiction where this is the norm) I use ‘Luna’ as a proper name for Earth’s moon.

  13. Of course, the one problem with “Sol” or “Luna” is that they are simply “sun” and “moon” in Latin. And don’t forget the once-popular “Terra!”

    If I ever step through some wormhole and aliens ask me where I’m from (not that telling them the name matters, of course, or that we could likely communicate at all), I’ll say the Sol System. “Solar system” has taken on a generic usage, at least in its secondary meaning, even though it’s supposed to just refer to Sol and its planets. And I’ll damned well capitalize “Earth.”

  14. Of course, the one problem with “Sol” or “Luna” is that they are simply “sun” and “moon” in Latin.

    Why is that a problem? It still makes them unique. We don’t talk about other “sols” or other “lunas,” the way we talk about other moons.

  15. Rand,

    There is nothing to debate. The International Astronomical Union is the official authority on the names of astronomical bodies. Below is their position on this issue.’

    http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/faq/index.cfm?Category=Moon

    [[[

    Is there another name for the Moon?

    The International Astronomical Union (IAU) decides on names for things in the Solar System, such as planets, asteroids, and moons. I asked Dr. Aksnes, the chairman of the group that decides on names for planetary systems and what’s in them, this question. It turns out that the IAU has not decided on a single name for the Moon (or the Sun for that matter), but supports the common practice of using the name of the Moon (or the Sun) in any language. Without capitalization, the word “moon” can be interpreted as any other moon and the word “sun” as any other star.]]]

    Of course you could lobby them to change it.

  17. Actually Rand here is the direct link to the IAU statement on it.

    http://www.iau.org/public_press/themes/naming/

    [[[The IAU formally recommends that the initial letters of the names of individual astronomical objects should be printed as capitals (see the IAU Style Manual, Trans. Int. Astron. Union, volume 20B, 1989; Chapter 8, page S30 – PDF file); e.g., Earth, Sun, Moon, etc. “The Earth’s equator” and “Earth is a planet in the Solar System” are examples of correct spelling according to these rules.]]]

    http://www.iau.org/static/publications/iau_trans20b_s30.pdf

  18. I think it was my junior year of high school that our English book actually had a section about whether to capitalize the Sun or the Moon. As you can see how I applied it is how I learned it.

  19. I’ve learn it as the Moon or a moon as well as the Sun or a sun.

    I’ll probably continue although I do find the argument compelling.

  20. Capitalize ‘Moon’ as a political statement that it should be a place “like Tahiti” as David Livingston’s Space Show has said for many years. So if we’re referring to the fact that Earth has a moon or it’s a full moon or something in the generic, then do not capitalize, but if we’re referring to the Moon as a place to go, give it a capital like Io. It’s kind of like the way we capitalize West Coast. The Moon is a region in the human sphere of influence. I wrote this back in 2005.

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