Why you call "Luna" to the Moon?

> From: omar vega [mailto:oevega@...]

> Just a question. I am a Spanish speaker so I'm curious
> why you use the name "Luna" instead of Moon. Well,
> Luna means Moon in Spanish (perhaps in Latin too), but
> there must be same reason why you reffer to our
> natural satellite as Luna. I wonder what is it?

Because it's silly to use a noun (a name of something) as a proper noun (the
Name of something specific; as in place, object, or person). Hence you
rarely call a house the House. Or a road the Road. On that basis our nearest
neighbour needs a name, and since we all talk about lunar probes and lunar
bases - the name Luna seems natural.

John