quote:Originally posted by MBM:
Does anyone know if there is a name for our moon? Isn't calling our moon, "Moon" like calling my dog, "Dog"?I know Jupiter's moons have names (Io, etc.), what about ours?
I'm not even sure that our "moon" is a moon.
I think that it's too big, relative to the earth, to be considered a moon. I believe that the earth/luna system is actually considered a dual planetary system. In fact, I believe that the moon doesn't revolve around the earth. I think that both the earth and the moon revolve around a point that is outside of thge surface of the earth. That is, the center of mass for the earth/luna system is not a point somewhere underground in our planet, but rather a point out in space, between the two.
Calling the moon a moon is more like calling your dog "cat".