The Magellanic Clouds must be renamed, astronomers say
The Magellanic Clouds must be renamed, astronomers say
Ferdinand Magellan, who murdered and enslaved indigenous people, was not an astronomer nor the clouds' discoverer.
"Magellan was murderous and awful but that isn’t the primary issue," David W. Hogg, a professor of physics and data science at New York University and Group Leader for astronomical data at the Flatiron Institute, told Space.com. "The primary issue is that the clouds aren’t his discovery."
Oops. How did his name even get attached to the clouds in the first place? The article doesn't give specifics.
Amerigo Vespucci didn't discover North or South America, either. Most asteroids that are named after people weren't discovered by those people. I really don't see how this is a big deal. Names are just labels.
Nubecula is a nice enough name, but this situation is going to happen with anything named after historical figures.
Yes, as mentioned in the article by the person who formally made the suggestion. Either stop using people's names or accept we'll change views of past figures over time.
Following the same "logic": Let's rename Washington DC and Washington State because George Washington was a slave owner.
It wouldn't be the first city that changed it's name, or even the first one to do so because of the racist history of the previous name.
I'd be okay with that.
Oh here we go. More manufactured outrage. Let’s rename Columbus, OH while we’re at it. That place offends me.
Astronomers: "we should reconsider" You: "OH THE OUTRAGE, THE SCREAMS, THE BLAH blah blah"
Another huge problem we need to solve. Because we need to change history. The world is going to shit.
No history is being changed. Stop manufacturing outrage. You can and will be able to continue learning about Magellan all the same.