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Week of January 31, 2021

Of Gods and Telescopes

The namesakes of the planets in our solar system are:

Sunday

Fast-moving Mercury is named for the speedy Roman messenger god.

Monday

Venus is named for the Roman goddess of love and beauty.

Tuesday

Earth, the only planet not named for a Greek or Roman deity, gets its name from Germanic words for “ground.”

Wednesday

Red Mars is named for the Roman god of war.

Thursday

Jupiter, our largest planet, is named for the king of the Roman gods.

Friday

Saturn is named for the Roman god of agriculture, and Uranus is named for the Greek god of the sky.

Saturday

Bright blue Neptune was named for the Roman sea god. Condolences to Pluto, demoted from planet status in 2006, but still named for the Roman god of the underworld.