9

For example: when we look up news stories online, or tune in on TV, we are being given news reports that fall within a spacial scope.

  • Local news: City and surrounding county.
  • Regional news: "Pacific Northwest" for example.
  • National news: Nation
  • Global news: Also known as "World News"

Bring that scope out even further and you've got the gist of my question. If we were, for example, to colonize the Moon, Mars, or even asteroids in the future, what would that particular scope of news be called?

Here's my ideas and why I'm still conflicted about whether they are proper or not:

Intrastellar: "stellar" technically meaning "star" and "intra" meaning "within." I certainly hope we aren't receiving news from within our star in the future(ouch). But, of course, it could be adopted to mean "within our solar system." Does that sound right to you?

Furthermore, this word, having the prefix of "inter," would more be in line with inter-municipal, inter-regional, international and interstellar.

Interterrestrial: Again, we are trying to include all space and celestial bodies within the bounds of our solar system, including asteroids and space stations. "Terrestrial" hints at planetary bodies only.

Solar: Again, it refers directly to the actual Sun itself, but do you think it could grow to be side-by-side with local, national, global, etc. with regard to describing things that exist or occur within the bounds of the solar system?

Unless, of course, "solar" refers only to our star, the Sun. It may not be able to refer to the confines of another star's system.

Systemic: now it just sounds like we're talking about a disease.

I simply cannot think of an adjective that properly denotes all things within a solar system, but no more specific than that, without directly referring to our Sun only.

Nomad
  • 91
  • I suppose it ought to be universal if only the term were not hijacked by the earthlings already. Too bad "universal = worldwide" is one of the more popular definitions. – Kris Feb 04 '15 at 06:46
  • local planetary news – ottodidakt Feb 04 '15 at 08:22
  • 5
    Despite it being technically incorrect, I strongly suspect we will call such a collection "interplanetary news". As you implied, that term seems to exclude non-planetary bodies such as asteroids and such, but I think the average layperson would not make that distinction, and the knowledgeable traveler would likely not bother to do so. This would likely suffice until we had need to transmit "galactic news". – Mark Thompson Feb 04 '15 at 09:19
  • I took "within a solar system" to imply there was galactic news as well. Of course then they might just say "in local news..." for things happening on Pluto.
    I never hear the phrase "in global news" myself but I have heard "in international news" and that might just be expandable to the solar system as well, depending on the politics of the time?     – lessthanideal Feb 06 '15 at 17:00
  • There's never really been a need for such a word. The "interplanetary" suggestion probably is the closest. – Hot Licks Mar 06 '15 at 13:38
  • Cosmic is mainly related to the universe but one of the definitions of cosmic is: pertaining to the solar system as a whole, and not to the earth alone. - Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary – ermanen Mar 06 '15 at 13:47
  • System-wide sounds right to me. – Ian MacDonald Mar 06 '15 at 17:16

8 Answers8

3

This is a good question. I'm sure at least one sci-fi author must have coined such an adjective, and I feel like I must have come across one in the past, but I can't remember any right now.

One option that I've found in scientific contexts is circumstellar. It is used primarily in reference to circumstellar disks, such as the asteroid and kuiper belts, but it could be used to refer to anything in orbit around a star (or in orbit around a binary star system.)

curiousdannii
  • 5,725
2

Interplanetary

may refer to:

Interplanetary space, the space between the planets of the Solar System. Interplanetary spaceflight, travel between planets. The interplanetary medium, the material that exists in interplanetary space.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary

Glenn David Barres
  • 21
1

A reasonable guess might be "system-wide" - analagous to "nationwide".

I think there is a distinction between "national" and "nationwide" news operations - the latter meaning news gathered "across the whole country", including at a local level (see e.g. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nationwide), while the former seems to mean "news about events that have a national impact" (e.g. a national government decision is automatically national news, whereas a decision by local government that would have to be so unusual or important as to be worth reporting at the national level)

So perhaps there might be a distinction to be drawn between "systemic" or "whole-system" news, and "system-wide" news. I quite like the idea of "pan-systemic".

Silverfish
  • 1,501
  • This could work, but only I think if the rest of the context established 'system' as a common short hand for 'solar system'. – curiousdannii Mar 06 '15 at 15:07
  • @curiousdannnii I think that, for any given star sytem, locals would refer to it as "the system". – Silverfish Mar 06 '15 at 16:49
  • I meant if the story spends more time talking about the political system or the educational system or the religious system then the reader will not connect this adjective to the solar system. – curiousdannii Mar 06 '15 at 21:50
0

what about starry; starry news.

starry (ˈstɑːrɪ) adj, -rier or -riest

  1. filled, covered with, or illuminated by stars
  2. (Astronomy) of, like, or relating to a star or stars ˈstarrily adv ˈstarriness n.

star•ry (ˈstɑr i)

adj. -ri•er, -ri•est.

  1. abounding with stars: a starry night.
  2. of, pertaining to, or proceeding from the stars.
  3. of the nature of or consisting of stars: starry worlds.
  4. star-shaped; stellate.
  5. shining like stars.

the American Heritage Dictionary definition: starry. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved February 4 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/starry For Collins English Dictionary: starry. (n.d.) Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged. (1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003). Retrieved February 4 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/starry For Random House: starry. (n.d.) Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary. (2010). Retrieved February 4 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/starry For Thesaurus (WordNet based): starry. (n.d.) WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. (2003-2008). Retrieved February 4 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/starry

sojourner
  • 3,533
  • 1
    To me, it seems, that if "starry" were to be used, then "stellar" might as well be used instead. They mean virtually the same thing, but one sounds better than the other. – Nomad Feb 05 '15 at 20:49
0

What about Interplanetary News? That would also be a great company name, but it may be a little premature to register it just yet.

Tim Lymington
  • 35,168
0

My suggestion

Global news: Also known as "World News"

Solar-System news: Also known as "Sol News"

chasly - supports Monica
  • 37,215
0

I'd posit that if "circumstellar" can be used to describe something in the vicinity of a star, "circumsolar" could be used to denote something within our own system, specifically.

Sessions Newcastle
  • 1
  • 1
    Welcome to EL&U. This answer would benefit from a definition of the word (research), and I'm afraid that word does not mean what you think it does. Please take a moment to [tour] the site and read the [FAQ]. – livresque Sep 25 '20 at 00:09
0

I would call it Extraterrestrial News - read all about it - and, be done with it. This way, the words for such continue to become longer. There are stories of things going on in the universe outside of earth, all the time.

As for interstellar, etc, well, intercity news doesn't sound right.

Specifically, I guess we could have the Martian Chronicles. And, The Sun. But, I think, because the colonization of other planets, still, seems so far-fetched, it will take the complete destruction of this one. Then, such could be called, New Earth news.

P.S. It may be that someone already mentioned this stuff. For some reason, I am unable to read additional comments, etc, even in the threads I start. I did submit a "ticket", but, I think, it got the royal runaround. I was told situation resolved. Lol.

G. Rem laughs at the MonicaC's
  • 432