Yes, I know, it’s the plural form of Sun, but the word Sun likely predates our understanding that stars and our Sun are the same thing.

I get “stars”, but where did “suns” come from?

  • saltesc@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    22 hours ago

    Yeah, I think like this too. Considering systems can have multiple stars which have planets with varying orbital planes because of this.

    Imagine the Solar System has some small red dwarf called Sol B out past Saturn. Neptune and Uranus orbit it as the star orbits Sol. Then waaay out further is Sol C, which orbits Sol too, but it’s alone and not at all dense.

    Sol, Sol B, Sol C are all stars in the Solar System. Sol and Sol B are suns, Sol C is not.

    • Rhaedas@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      22 hours ago

      While that does follow modern naming convention for multiple star systems, the primary star is denoted with an A. Since we already call it Sol, we’d probably make an exception in this case and come up with a stellar name for the other stars found rather than use the B. But your point stands, a star without a planet doesn’t seem to be a “sun”.