{"id":24933,"date":"2013-08-26T00:00:15","date_gmt":"2013-08-26T07:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=24933"},"modified":"2018-07-03T12:23:34","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T19:23:34","slug":"how-the-milky-way-got-its-name-and-what-its-called-in-other-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2013\/08\/how-the-milky-way-got-its-name-and-what-its-called-in-other-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Milky Way Got Its Name and What It’s Called in Other Languages"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"milky-way\"<\/a>Today I found out<\/a> why our galaxy is called the Milky Way and what it\u2019s called in other languages.<\/p>\n

No, it has nothing to do with the candy bar. Like many words we use today, the English name of our galaxy is derived from its Latin name: Via Lactea. Translated, that means \u201cthe road of milk.\u201d The Romans actually got the name from the Greeks, who called our galaxy \u201cgalaxias kyklos\u201d<\/i> or \u201cmilky circle.\u201d Incidentally, the Greek name is also where we get the term \u201cgalaxy.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one knows exactly who came up with the name, but it isn\u2019t difficult to see how the name came about. From Earth, at least if you’re well outside the boundaries of city lights, our galaxy looks something like a band of milky light over a black background, as we are viewing it on its side and the billions of distant stars in our galaxy create a nice visible band of light.<\/p>\n

As for why the ancient Greeks called it the \u201cmilky circle,\u201d the myth goes that Zeus brought Heracles to Hera to suckle when she was sleeping. Hera was in conflict with the little infant, as you would be if your husband brought home a half-mortal child that wasn\u2019t yours. As baby Heracles was having his meal, Hera woke up suddenly and pushed him away, resulting in a few drops of spilt milk. The drops created the galaxy that is now known as the Milky Way.<\/p>\n

Various other languages have translations of \u201cMilky Way\u201d as the name of the galaxy, such as the German \u201cMilchstrasse\u201d and the Norwegian \u201cMelkeveien.\u201d There are, however, many other mythological origin stories that explain the various alternate names of the Milky Way in other languages.<\/p>\n

In Finland, the Milky Way is called \u201cLinnunrata,\u201d or \u201cpath of the birds.\u201d In Finnish Mythology, the world was formed from a waterfowl\u2019s egg bursting. The sky was the shell of the egg, and the Earth as we know it was flat. At the edges of the Earth was \u201cLintukoto,\u201d or the home of the birds. Lintukoto was a warm region where birds migrated during the winter. The band of light that the Greeks thought of as milk was, according to the Finns, the path that the birds took on their way to Lintukoto. Thus, it\u2019s Linnunrata, \u201cpath of the birds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armenia has a different idea about the Milky Way. There, it\u2019s called hard goghi chanaparh<\/i>, or \u201cStraw Thief\u2019s Way.\u201d The story goes that the god Vahagn stole cartloads of straw Barsham, the Assyrian King, and took it to Armenia during a particularly cold winter. To get there, he fled across the Heavens and dropped some straw on the way, making the Milky Way.<\/p>\n

Likewise, the Milky Way is called various forms of \u201cstraw way\u201d in several other languages across Central Asia and Africa. It\u2019s \u00c7a Taxina Ta\u00e7a<\/i>\u00a0in Chechen, or \u201cthe route of scattered straw;\u201d traditionally \u201ckumova slama\u201d<\/i> or \u201cGodfather\u2019s Straw\u201d in Croatian, though Milky Way is also used now in Croatia; and samanyolu<\/i> or \u201croad of straw\u201d in Turkish. It\u2019s likely that Arabs heard the story in Armenia first and spread the name to various other lands.<\/p>\n

In many northern countries, the Milky Way is called the \u201cWinter Way,\u201d such as the Icelandic \u201cvetrarbrautin<\/i>,\u201d the alternative Norwegian \u201cvinterbrauta,\u201d <\/i>and the Swedish \u201cvintergatan.\u201d<\/i> The reason for this is thought to be because, in the Northern Hemisphere, the Milky Way is more visible during the winter.<\/p>\n

In much of East Asia, the galaxy is referred to as the \u201cSilver River.\u201d A Chinese legend says that once upon a time, there was a beautiful young maiden named the Goddess Weaver, the daughter of the Celestial Queen Mother. One day, a Buffalo Boy was tending his herd when he spied the Goddess Weaver bathing in a nearby lake. The two instantly fell in love, and were soon married and produced two children. But the Celestial Queen Mother grew jealous of their love and stole the Goddess Weaver away. When the Buffalo Boy pursued them, the Queen took out a pin and drew a silver river between them so that they would be separated forever. That silver river was the Milky Way. In Japan and Korea \u201csilver river\u201d means galaxies in general, not just the Milky Way.<\/p>\n

In Spanish, the Milky Way is called a few different things. First, via lactea<\/i>, or the Milky Way. Camino de Santiago<\/i> means the \u201cRoad of Santiago\u201d or \u201cRoad to Santiago,\u201d and was used for the Milky Way because pilgrims used it to guide them to Santiago de Compostela, a holy site. Compostela<\/i> is the third way to say the name of the galaxy, and this one is perhaps the most accurate of all the different names. It literally means \u201cthe field of stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

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