Brabe Asks #2

"...On that note, does our solar system have an actual name like magnatar 38 or something equally cool?" -Brabe

I did a little searching and confirmed that no, our solar system does not have a name like Magnatar 38. According to NASA, the IAU (International Astronomical Union), etc., we just capitalise the words to make them personal pronouns. Our solar system is called the Solar System. The galaxy is commonly referred to as the Galaxy (rather than the Milky Way). Our moon is just the Moon. It seems this is because we live on Earth so they are just our system and galaxy. If we started to live on other planets or in other galaxies, we might either give those new places unique names or perhaps change the names of Earth's neighbourhood. Hard to say at this point! A nice little paragraph (or so) explains that all here.


More links:

Wikipedia on the Solar System

From the University of Arizona's now incorrectly titled Nine Planets FAQ:

Q: Does our solar system have a name? Does our moon have a name? Does our sun have a name?

A: No. No. No. Sorry. They should. But they don't. At least not in English. There are, of course, many words used to refer to the Sun and the Moon in other languages. "Sol" and "Luna" are often thought of as proper names but they're really Latin, not English. So far there hasn't been a need for anything more. Maybe when we start living on other places besides the Earth....