So you may question, “We get it! Everyone knows the Universe is huge. What’s the relation between these numbers and the title of this article?”

Before I break that to you, let’s play a small fun game. I’ll just put up a group of names, and you’ll have to guess what is common to all of them.

Merope, Bellatrix, Regulus, Alphard, Sirius, Arcturus Phoebe, Juliet, Miranda, Elara Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, James Bond, Holmes

The answers are put up towards the end of the article but wait before you scroll to them in joy, confident that you have guessed it right.

Coming back to the question, you may have already guessed it, the problem that comes with greater numbers is naming them all! Astronomical names are easily some of the most beautiful words you will see in all of literature. Most names, in fact, originate from the lore and legends of the human species, the mythology, various beliefs and the culture of ancient civilizations. However, we do have some original names that first appeared in astronomy and then were adapted elsewhere. Objects discovered recently are named using various guidelines laid by the International Astronomical Union. This article is not about naming celestial objects or learning about different conventions. I’ll drop in a few links at the end for you to explore more on that later. We are now going to discuss something more unique.

An astronomical name isn’t just a name for identification of an object. Every name comes with a story to tell. We have celestial objects named after almost all religions and cultures of humanity. More than often, these names are associated with various mythologies of the Greeks, Romans, Arabic, etc.

Today, we humans project ourselves into the cosmos by sending in signals and whispers into the abyss that this universe is, hoping to make a mark for ourselves. Maybe, it was our ancestors’ way of presenting themselves, their thoughts, ideas, and stories into the universe that laid the basis for the origin of all these names. Every shining object in the night sky has a much deeper meaning left behind by the ancient astronomers. Also, the mythologies associated with various constellations are next to none in the brilliance of imaginative skills.