Pluto and three of its five moons

Pluto and three of its five moons

Contest seeks underworldly names for Pluto’s two moons

  • By The Associated Press
  • Monday, February 11, 2013 2:40pm
  • News

By The Associated Press

Pluto-naming contest: http://www.plutorocks.com/

Johns Hopkins University: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/index.php

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Want to name Pluto’s two tiniest moons? Then you’ll need to dig deep into mythology.

Astronomers announced a contest Monday to name the two itty-bitty moons of Pluto discovered over the past two years.

Pluto is the Roman equivalent of the Greek’s Hades, lord of the underworld, and its three bigger moons have related mythological names: Charon, the ferryman of Hades; Nix for the night goddess; and the multi-headed monster Hydra.

The two unnamed moons – no more than 15 to 20 miles across – need similarly shady references. Right now, they go by the bland titles of P4 and P5.

Online voting will last two weeks, ending Feb. 25. Twelve choices are available at the website http://www.plutorocks.com.

Among the choices: Hercules, the hero who slew Hydra; Obol, the coin put in the mouths of the dead as payment to Charon; Cerebrus, the three-headed dog guarding the gates of the underworld; Orpheus, the musician and poet who used his talents to get his wife, Eurydice, out of the underworld only to lose her by looking back: Eurydice; and Styx, the river to the underworld.

As of Monday afternoon, Styx and Cerebrus were leading. The vote tally is updated hourly.

“The Greeks were great storytellers, and they have given us a colorful cast of characters to work with,” said Mark Showalter, senior research scientist at SETI Institute’s Carl Sagan Center in Mountain View, Calif.

He and other astronomers who discovered the two mini-moons using the Hubble Space Telescope will make the winning selections.

Write-in name suggestions are welcomed, but they need to come from Greek or Roman mythology and deal with the underworld.

The name for the planetoid, or dwarf planet near the outer fringes of the solar system came from a little English girl.

Pluto’s discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh, liked that the first two letters were the same as the initials of late American astronomer Percival Lowell.

Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930 using the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is en route to Pluto, arriving in 2015 on the first robotic flyby ever of the planetoid.

The winning moon names will need final approval by the International Astronomical Union.

Hopefully, there won’t be any conflicts like when the name Nix was picked.

The night goddess actually is spelled Nyx, but an asteroid already had the moniker so the proper spelling for the moon had to be nixed.

More in News

Tracy Ryan, a nurse at Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend, stands in front of one of the hospital’s maternity ward rooms. (Grace Deng/Washington State Standard)
Rural maternity wards are struggling to stay afloat

State and federal lawmakers are trying to help

Jefferson County approves transportation plan

Six-year improvement outlook budgeted for more than $94M

Rainwater collection presentation canceled

The Rainwater Collection 101 presentation scheduled for 6:30 p.m.… Continue reading

Rear Admiral Charles E. Fosse, right, U.S. Coast Guard District 13 commander, was the guest speaker at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Port Angeles’ annual Veterans Day celebration on Monday. Chaplain Mike VanProyen, left, and Kelly Higgins, the commanding officer at Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, also participated in the ceremony. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
Hundreds gather in Port Angeles to honor service members

High school band, choral groups highlight event

Former Marine Joseph Schwann of Port Townsend smiles as he receives a Quilt of Valor from Kathy Darrow, right, and another member of Quilts of Valor during the Veterans Day event at the American Legion Marvin G. Shields Memorial Post 26 in Port Townsend on Monday. Group leader Kathey Bates, left, was the emcee of the event. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Quilts of Valor

Former Marine Joseph Schwann of Port Townsend smiles as he receives a… Continue reading

Port Townsend ethics complaint dismissed

Officer examines argument on open meetings

Friends of the Library to host annual meeting

The Port Angeles Friends of the Library will conduct… Continue reading

Peninsula College to stage ‘The Thanksgiving Play’

Peninsula College will present its production of “The Thanksgiving… Continue reading

Ceramic sculpture “Flora-Fauna” by Thomas Connery.
Library to host reception for ‘Second Look’ exhibition

The North Olympic Library System will host a reception… Continue reading

Sequim City Council members finalized through their consent agenda to ban the sale of fireworks effective October 2025. They held a public hearing last month that garnered mostly support for the ban. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim finalizes ban on fireworks

Ordinance change will go into effect next October

Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group
Rich Krebsbach, manager of the Highland Irrigation District, asks questions of Rhiana Barkie, Clallam County public works project coordinator. The map is one of four new options for the Dungeness Off-Channel Reservoir project. Public input is being taken through the county’s website at https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/188/Dungeness-Off-Channel-Reservoir-Project.
Sequim reservoir project draws crowd, questions

Clallam County, FEMA public comment period open through Nov. 21