Pronunciations Of Astronomy Terms

[Talitha]

I've slaughtered the pronunciation of everything up there,

but here are the worst ones:

Equuleus... E-quals

Bootes..... BOO-tees

Aquila...... uh-KWEE-LEE-uh

And here's the worst one:

Canes Venatici somehow got an Itallian accent and became

CAY-nis VEN-ah-TEE-chee.

[barkis]

Here's the one I use.... I think....

http://astronomy.sierracollege.edu/Resources/Reference/astroProGuide.htm

That's a great link AM, and just about wraps it up for all of us.

As an aside to Wedge, there really is no need to get hung up on correct pronunciation of astronomical terms, as there are so many variations used by different people. And, as someone has already remarked, no one will deride anyone for allegedly misspronouncing a term.

I suppose if you are giving a lecture to a group, it would help if the speaker had their head around every difficult pronunciation.

I have been to a few by some very eminent people, and even they get caught out, but no one pooh poohed them.

Don't let it spoil your enjoyment.

Ron.

[PaulR]

May I belatedly suggest the awesom "syzygy"!

[themos]

???????, what's funny about it? see-zee-jee.

[The Warthog]

If you say it forcefully enough, people who spot your mispronunciations will look down and shuffle their feet, and feel bad that they've been pronouncing it wrong all these years. :|

[supernova]

I've said it before, but they ARE considering changing the name of Uranus because of all the jokes. New name will be

Urectum.

Yeah, that ought to fix things...

that would be a good name for a demolition company

[themos]

just don't say "nucular"

[The Warthog]

So, is Rupes Recta the plural of Rupes Rectum?

[PaulR]

How about Spica?

Does it sound like:

Spicer

Speaker

Spicka

Speesa

Answers on a poostcurd.

[themos]

it sounds like "Alpha Virgo"!

[PaulR]

Surely you mean Alpha Virginis?

[themos]

humblest apologies, you are correct. My Latin is very poor.

[Vega]

OK, I'll bring up the famous one's... no fighting please

Betelgeuse - bee-tl-juice ?

Antares - Ant-airs or Ant-ar-ees ?

Vega - Vay-ga or Ve-ga ?

Uranus - Yer-un-us (Probably wrong but a useful one as this saves the class collapsing in hilarity when teaching children the planets!!)

Vega (vay-ga)

[themos]

antares is from greek anti-Ares (I think). so should be Ant-AR-ees. But I always call it Ant-AR-ess.

I prefer VEH-Gah.

Uranus: Oo-rah-NOSS. but then again, modern greek was my first language.

[brightstar]

hi all,

I read a book that gave a glossary of the main constellations and how to pronounce them phonetically, it was called The Complete and Easy Guide to Stargazing, it was really helpful when trying to explain which is which and look like i knew what i was talking about! sorry it's such a late reply but i hope it helps all the same...

clear skies

fern

[Astroman]

I would take issue with most of those pronunciations, having learned Latin in school.

Rather belated, but something about this post set off tingles at the back of my neck, and I wasn't sure why. Until now.

Most of the star names were not derived from Latin, but from Arabic. Constellations were named in English, according to pronunciations set forth by the International Astronomical Union in the 1930's. So, WH is probably correct, in that the pronunciations are NOT based on Latin, but English.

Whew. I feel better now. Maybe I can get some sleep. Oh wait, my turn at the Observatory.

[The Warthog]

I would take issue with most of those pronunciations, having learned Latin in school.

Rather belated, but something about this post set off tingles at the back of my neck, and I wasn't sure why. Until now.

Most of the star names were not derived from Latin, but from Arabic. Constellations were named in English, according to pronunciations set forth by the International Astronomical Union in the 1930's. So, WH is probably correct, in that the pronunciations are NOT based on Latin, but English.

Whew. I feel better now. Maybe I can get some sleep. Oh wait, my turn at the Observatory.

Yes, but that web page I was commenting on was about the names of the constellations, which are mostly Greek, Latinized Greek, or Latin.

The star names are, indeed, mostly anglicized Arabic, and the pronunciation of these is pretty optional. However, 'i' is pronounced as a clipped 'ee', and 'a' as 'ah' for the most part, and 'e' is a short e. "Castor" and "Pollux" are Greek, and "Regulus" and "Cor Caroli" are Latin, the latter named by Brahe, I believe. Nevertheless, I pronounce "Rigel", "Rye-jell." Jello shots, anyone? :drunken:

[themos]

"Castor" and "Pollux" are Greek

A pedant writes:

?????? and ?????????? are Greek (Kastor and Polydeuces), Castor and Pollux are latinised names for them.

[The Warthog]

But they ain't Arabic, are they?

[dezmaas]

In the last Sky at Night show, Patrick Moore pronounced Sirius Sigh-rius, shortly afterwards, Chris Lintott pronounced it Si-rius.

I would say Si-rius

[Talitha]

Makes me glad I'm a Lone Wolf observer. No one hears me except the stars, and they don't mind when I mispronounce their names.

[The Warthog]

They don't mind when I swear at my telescope, either!

[Macavity]

Heheh. Always knew that grade 5 Latin "O-Level" would come in handy. (For exams, I just used to rote-learn the English translation!). Funny how things change, from schooldays tho'. All the things I thought(!) I disliked... languages, history etc. are my main (albeit amateur) interests, now. Astronomy is the only "science" I find vaguely tolerable, these days...

[The Warthog]

I taught my Wolf Cubs to remember the name and pronunciation of Sirius by saying, "When that star tells you it's the brightest star in the sky, you can ask, 'Are you Sirius?'" It worked.

[Tiny]

Here's the one I use.... I think....

http://astronomy.sierracollege.edu/Resources/Reference/astroProGuide.htm

Reading this many are easier with a mid Atlantic accent.