Names for New Pluto Moons Accepted

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Names for New Pluto Moons Accepted by the IAU After Public Vote

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is announcing that the names Kerberos and Styx have officially been recognised for the fourth and fifth moons of Pluto, which were discovered in 2011 and 2012. The names were submitted to the IAU by the leader of the team responsible for the discovery, who had called for the help of the general public in an open contest that attracted a substantial number of participants.

The IAU is pleased to announce that today it has officially recognised the names Kerberos and Styx for the fourth and fifth moons of Pluto respectively (formerly known as P4 and P5). These names were backed by voters in a recently held popular contest, aimed at allowing the public to suggest names for the two recently discovered moons of the most famous dwarf planet in the Solar System.

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[Mikko-kun]

Vetoed Vulcan. I'm more surprised that they'd even suggest a name that already existed.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Vetoed Vulcan. I'm more surprised that they'd even suggest a name that already existed.

The IAU didn't suggest the name, the poll was unofficial and started by the SETI Institute. The IAU was under no obligation to use any of the names suggested in the poll.

Technically Cerberus has already been used too (for asteroid 1865) hence the alternative spelling Kerberos.

[Likely Guy]

What's done is done. I voted for Orpheus and Eurydice.

[Taun]

I voted for Sneezy and Grumpy....

[Waspie_Dwarf]

What's done is done. I voted for Orpheus and Eurydice.

Well it's always possible that New Horizons may discover more moons.

I voted for Sneezy and Grumpy....

Nah, not even if New Horizons discovers a hundred more moons.

[Likely Guy]

I voted for Sneezy and Grumpy....

Taun. Your choice of new moon names, well... sucks!

[Taun]

Taun. Your choice of new moon names, well... sucks!

Pluto is a DWARF planet... (also a name used by Disney for a cartoon character...) ... so I figured two more Disney Cartoon character names would fit right in...

[Mikko-kun]

Waspie, Taun's names might get accepted to something you know, look at this:

After NASA's New Horizons spacecraft gets the first up-close views of Pluto in 2015, craters, mountains and other features spotted on the dwarf planet's surface could bear the names of famous "Star Trek" characters, researchers said.

"We might have craters called Sulu and Spock and Kirk and McCoy and so on," Mark Showalter of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in Mountain View, Calif., said during a Google+ Hangout today (July 2). [Photos of Pluto and Its Moons]

http://news.yahoo.com/star-trek-pluto-could-really-happen-scientists-154937077.html

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Waspie, Taun's names might get accepted to something you know, look at this:

Star Trek is one thing, Disney is another kettle of fish altogether.

[Taun]

Star Trek is one thing, Disney is another kettle of fish altogether.

Disney... beloved by children all over the world... Good way to draw them into being interested in Space exploration/Science...

besides - my avatar is a cartoon character for crying out loud... What do you expect me to say....

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Disney... beloved by children all over the world... Good way to draw them into being interested in Space exploration/Science...

Nah.

Gagarin was a global hero for being the first man in space and inspired children all round the globe.

Armstrong was a global hero for being the first man on the moon and inspired children all round the globe.

The first human on Mars will be a global hero and will inspire children all round the globe.

There's going to be bugger all credibility in being the first man on Dopey.

Edited July 4, 2013 by Waspie_Dwarf
typo.

[seaturtlehorsesnake]

star trek is all well and good, but what if disney buys the franchise? they've already got the "wars"! then spock and kirk will be disney references too.

What's done is done. I voted for Orpheus and Eurydice.

those are great choices! moons for the future, i guess