Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Pluto's Newly Discovered Moons Receive Names

NASA ^ | July 08, 2013 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: Pluto's newly discovered moons now have names. Known previously as P4 and P5, the International Astronomical Union has now given the fourth and fifth discovered moons of Pluto the names Kerberos and Styx. The small moons were discovered in 2011 and 2012 by the Hubble Space Telescope in preparation for the close passing of the New Horizons spacecraft by Pluto in 2015. Kerberos is named for the many headed dog in Greek mythology that guards the entrance to the underworld, while Styx is named for the goddess who overlooks the mythological river that runs between the Earth and the underworld. Both monikers are related to the name of Pluto, who rules the mythical nether region. Because their reflectivity is unknown, the size of each moon is quite uncertain -- but each is crudely estimated to be about 20 kilometers in diameter. The robotic New Horizons spacecraft is on schedule to pass by Pluto in 2015 and provide the first clear images of the dwarf planet and its companions.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: NASA, ESA, Mark Showalter (SETI Institute)]

[SunkenCiv]

The Big One

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[Empireoftheatom48]

I thought one was supposed to be named Vulcan!

[cripplecreek]

I wonder if we’ll be able to tell if they’re transient moons?

I see they’ve also spotted their first Kuiper belt object during their camera test.

[cripplecreek]

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

[bigheadfred]

However, 'Vulcan' was unacceptable to the IAU because it was not the name of an underworld deity and had already been used for a hypothetical planet inside the orbit of Mercury, as well as having given its name to the vulcanoid asteroids. Cerberus is already the name of an asteroid, 1865 Cerberus, but the Greek form of the name, Kerberos, was acceptable to the IAU.

wikipedia

[JoeProBono]

[bigheadfred]

post 6 and yeah i object

[GreenHornet]

They should name one of them "Keith."

(Keith Moon, get it! Ha Ha!.....thank you, thank you, I'm here all week!)

[cripplecreek]

Or Pi

[pax_et_bonum]

Lol!

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Great post. Thanks.

[The Cajun]

Pluto has moons, they named the moons, it's a planet dammit.

Nuff said :)

[smokingfrog]

[SunkenCiv]

http://nineplanets.org/hypo.html#vulcan

[SunkenCiv]

Damned right.

Branson buys Pluto, reinstates as planet
Virgin.com | April 1, 2011
Posted on 04/01/2011 2:16:33 PM PDT by EveningStar
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2698376/posts

[logic101.net]

But, they stripped Pluto of it’s planet status; moons can’t have moons, can they? Or do we need another name for moon moons?

If we are to name them I vote for BAD WOLF for one of them.

Hey, I’m a long time Dr. Who fan..., even named my boat Bad Wolf.

[The Cajun]

If we are to name them I vote for BAD WOLF for one of them.
Hey, I’m a long time Dr. Who fan..., even named my boat Bad Wolf.

Heck of a lot better than what they named the 7th planet!
If they wanted to do something, they should have fixed that............Just saying :)

[SunkenCiv]

Is Pluto a planet after all?
New Scientist | July 27, 2009 | Stephen Battersby
Posted on 08/03/2009 8:52:44 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2307672/posts

[bigheadfred]

The IAU has sunspots on their brains.