LAST week, New Scientist sent certain corners of the internet into rapturous delight by publishing a story about the potential for moons to have moons of their own. This included a suggested name for such objects: moonmoons.
The response on social media was an immediate outpouring of glee. Something about the word’s childlike simplicity makes it a pleasure to say, and thousands of readers were quickly firing off their own reactions. As it happens, “Moon Moon” is the name of a five-year-old meme depicting a wolf looking stupid, which certainly helped the idea spread.
Some astronomers are bemoaning the use of moonmoon, suggesting it makes light of a serious field of study. But given that terms such as super-Earth, twotino and cubewano are all an accepted part of the literature, moonmoon doesn’t seem a huge departure.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether the word sticks or gives way to more po-faced alternatives such as submoon or second-order moon. But to lose moonmoon, and the joy it brings, would seem an astronomical shame.
This article appeared in print under the headline “The joy of moonmoons”
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