Quote:
Originally Posted by Jens
I'm not sure what you mean by "reserving" names. What do you mean when you say that many names are "taken"? Are there other astronomical objects that are given those names?
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Asteroids 63 Cybele and 93 Minerva have "taken" the names the OP proposes to use for Haumea and Makemake. It's now IAU policy to avoid duplicate names. The existence of asteroid 3908 Nyx is what drove the mutated spelling of Pluto's moon Nix, for instance.
I'd be sorry to see us restricted to the mythology of two dead European cultures. There are many more cultures and mythologies than Roman and Greek, and many more language groups than Romance. Bring 'em on, I say.
Grant Hutchison