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]

"To Pluto And Far Beyond" By David H. Levy, Parade, January 15, 2006 -- We don't have a dictionary definition yet that includes all the contingencies. In the wake of the new discovery, however, the International Astronomical Union has set up a group to develop a workable definition of planet. For our part, in consultation with several experienced planetary astronomers, Parade offers this definition: A planet is a body large enough that, when it formed, it condensed under its own gravity to be shaped like a sphere. It orbits a star directly and is not a moon of another planet.

[SunkenCiv]

/rimshot!

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.mikebrownsplanets.com/2009/12/ghost-of-christmas-past.html

[beebuster2000]

styx.

wasnt there a guitarist named nix in that band?

[Yardstick]

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

Totally non Greek or Roman and bucks the norm that planets have one-word names.

That said, these planets and planetoids and moons and moonlettes are such fringe characters that I think it's okay to let things slide a little bit in their case.

As such I'd vote for Pork Pie Hat for one of the moons, in reference to the Charlie Mingus tune.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

Good names! Classic ones as is the tradition.

[GeronL]

bump

[lbryce]

SunkenCiv,
I thought you might like to use this gif as icon, avatar for any one of your space-related sites. It's best if you downloaded it and not rely on photobucket because often images are removed from their site. You'd probably want to reduce the size a bit.

http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/pp5/pix1pix/Superspace_zpsd6bd593c.gif

[tdscpa]

Pie?

[tdscpa]

Bad _____ Rising?