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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Pluto's Newly Discovered Moons Receive Names
NASA ^ | July 08, 2013 | (see photo credit)

Posted on 07/08/2013 6:15:08 PM PDT by 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.

July 08, 2013

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; kerberos; pluto; science; styx
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[Credit: NASA, ESA, Mark Showalter (SETI Institute)]

1 posted on 07/08/2013 6:15:08 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; married21; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; ...
The Big One

2 posted on 07/08/2013 6:16:09 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (McCain or Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I thought one was supposed to be named Vulcan!


3 posted on 07/08/2013 6:18:23 PM PDT by Empireoftheatom48 (God help the Republic but will he?)
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To: SunkenCiv

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.


4 posted on 07/08/2013 6:18:47 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: SunkenCiv
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?

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
5 posted on 07/08/2013 6:23:13 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: SunkenCiv
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

6 posted on 07/08/2013 6:23:20 PM PDT by bigheadfred (barry your mouth is writing checks your ass cant cash)
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To: SunkenCiv

7 posted on 07/08/2013 6:23:33 PM PDT by JoeProBono (Mille vocibus imago valet;-{)
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To: Empireoftheatom48

post 6 and yeah i object


8 posted on 07/08/2013 6:24:17 PM PDT by bigheadfred (barry your mouth is writing checks your ass cant cash)
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To: SunkenCiv
They should name one of them "Keith."

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

9 posted on 07/08/2013 6:27:25 PM PDT by GreenHornet
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To: GreenHornet

Or Pi


10 posted on 07/08/2013 6:29:56 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: GreenHornet

Lol!


11 posted on 07/08/2013 6:35:15 PM PDT by pax_et_bonum (Never Forget the Seals of Extortion 17 - and God Bless America)
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To: cripplecreek

Great post. Thanks.


12 posted on 07/08/2013 6:37:58 PM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: SunkenCiv
Pluto has moons, they named the moons, it's a planet dammit.

Nuff said :)

13 posted on 07/08/2013 6:38:52 PM PDT by The Cajun (Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Ted Cruz, Trey Gowdy......Nuff said.)
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To: SunkenCiv

14 posted on 07/08/2013 6:46:03 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( ==> sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: bigheadfred

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


15 posted on 07/08/2013 6:58:04 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (McCain or Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: The Cajun; Empireoftheatom48; cripplecreek; bigheadfred; JoeProBono; GreenHornet; pax_et_bonum; ...

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


16 posted on 07/08/2013 6:58:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (McCain or Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: The Cajun

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.


17 posted on 07/08/2013 7:02:51 PM PDT by logic101.net (How many more children must die on the altar of "gun free zones"?)
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To: logic101.net
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 :)

18 posted on 07/08/2013 7:09:26 PM PDT by The Cajun (Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Ted Cruz, Trey Gowdy......Nuff said.)
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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


19 posted on 07/08/2013 7:16:47 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (McCain or Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: SunkenCiv

The IAU has sunspots on their brains.


20 posted on 07/08/2013 7:17:21 PM PDT by bigheadfred (barry your mouth is writing checks your ass cant cash)
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