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.