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I would like to generate a list of the symbols for the planets to include in a nice table with other data. How can I programmatically generate (eg. using a pure function) the symbols from a list of the planets' names as strings.

Such an input list is generated as follows:

AstronomicalData["Planet"]

{"Mercury", "Venus", "Earth", "Mars", "Jupiter", "Saturn", "Uranus", "Neptune"}

If I can do it for one name, then it's solved. Doing it manually by typing \[Saturn] produces the desired symbol ♄, but doing it manually is not a desirable option.

The following attempt fails in any case:

\[#] & /@ {"Saturn"}
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2 Answers 2

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ToExpression["\\[" <> # <> "]"] & /@ {"Mercury", "Venus", "Earth", 
  "Mars", "Jupiter", "Saturn", "Uranus", "Neptune"}

Gives

enter image description here

(also corrected the code thanks to Kuba)

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Alternatively:

CommonName[EntityClass["Planet", All]["Glyph"]]

or just 

EntityClass["Planet", All]["Glyph"]

if you don't mind the Entity formatting.

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    $\begingroup$ You can also do EntityValue[EntityClass["Planet", All]["Glyph"], "Name"]. $\endgroup$
    – Greg Hurst
    May 28, 2015 at 14:35
  • $\begingroup$ @ChipHurst Good call! Or even Through[EntityClass["Planet", All]["Glyph"]["Name"]] $\endgroup$
    – chuy
    May 28, 2015 at 15:08

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