Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2022 February 24

= February 24 =

Celestial bodies named after Greek mythology - c or k?
When the IAU names a celestial body after a figure from the Greek mythology - what does it depend on whether they use a spelling most truthful to the Greek original (namely with the letter k) or the Latinized spelling (namely with c) - see e.g. Eukelade vs. Carme (moon) ? --KnightMove (talk) 13:02, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Not 100% sure, as Astronomical naming conventions does not specifically say, but in general, naming rights are generally granted as an honor to the first discoverer of something, AFAIK, that is both how IUPAC handles the naming of chemical elements and how ICZN handles the naming of animal species. According to the article you linked, Carme was named in 1938 by its discoverer for Carme, which appears to have been spelled with a C in English since before the moon was named.  -- Jayron 32 13:12, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * That makes sense... but still Eukelade was also discovered by a US team, and she is written with a c in English?! --KnightMove (talk) 13:24, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Possibly because "ce" in English often makes an "s" sound. Lots of Greek names in English also maintain k in the spelling; Eukelade (the muse) is such a minor character I can't find much on her, but it isn't hard to find English using "k" in Greek mythological names, Keres, Nike, etc.   -- Jayron 32 13:33, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much! --KnightMove (talk) 15:23, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * The article Name conflicts with minor planets includes some examples where a moon and an asteroid only differ by this same c/k. For example, 53 Kalypso and Calypso (moon), 548 Kressida and Cressida (moon). --Amble (talk) 18:14, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

wp:deny
 * Not sure why the IP thinks the UK spelling is Chanucah. That gets no hits on the BBC news website whereas Hanukkah gets loads Mike Turnbull (talk) 17:45, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
 * I've just looked on the web page of the local synagogue and they spell it Chanukah! Martin of Sheffield (talk) 17:58, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
 * A hybrid version appears in Chanukah greetings from Mayor of London from The Jewish Chronicle (" the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world"), although the "kk" spelling does have a lot of hits on UK websites. Alansplodge (talk) 10:39, 26 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I guess I need a more general follow-up question in the language section. --KnightMove (talk) 04:23, 27 February 2022 (UTC)