Things You Thought You Knew – A Constellation Prize

About This Episode

How did we name our planets and moons? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice explain all the things you thought you knew about the names in our solar system, the origin of the moon, and the constellations in the night sky. How did Uranus get its name? 

Travel through time to the discovery and naming of Uranus, the first time an individual, William Herschel, discovered a planet. How did the planets get their names? Roman gods, Greek myths, and… a British King? Find out what Uranus was originally called and the story behind the naming of its moons. Is there a method to all these names? 

We break down how the moon formed in our early solar system. What does Venus look like in the sky? Was the moon always as far away from the Earth? Take a journey to the early days of the Earth’s and the moon’s formation. What did the moon rise look like? What were early Earth’s tides like? We get into the Earth and the moon’s rocky relationship. Is the Earth slowing? Was the moon always tidally locked to the Earth?

How many constellations are there? We break down the difference between the constellations in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Why is the Southern Hemisphere’s sky more beautiful? Is it really? What is an “asterism”? Discover the method of naming the features in our night sky. Octants, sextants, astrolabes; uncover the layout and nomenclature of the cosmos on another Things You Thought You Knew episode of StarTalk!

Thanks to our Patrons David Peterson, Gregory Strakos, Dr. G, Michael Loyd, Bobby G Ragan, raven williams, and Sofiane Shrekky for supporting us this week.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.