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Saturn's New Moons Named

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the huey-dewey-and-louie dept.

sebFlyte writes "The BBC is reporting that three new moons found orbiting Saturn at the end of last year have been named. 'Two moons detected in August have been given the names Methone and Pallene, while another found in October has been provisionally named Polydeuces.' Polydeuces is also reported as being a very strange object-- a trojan moon. It sits in a spot near a larger moon where the gravitational pull of the other moon (Dione here) and the planet cancel each other out."

6 of 165 comments (clear)

  1. Lagrange Points by dj42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I hadn't ever really thought about Lagrange points before I read that article. They are both interesting and intuitive to me. That there is a spot between two gravitational bodies that creates a "dead" spot, around which an object can orbit in a tug of war. Neat stuff. I find that more interesting than what names they have chosen for the moons.

    --
    We are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. Back to you with the weather, Bob!
    1. Re:Lagrange Points by Eosha · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There are five Lagrange points between any two bodies. L1,L2 and L3 lie inline with the bodies and are unstable (i.e., the slightest perturbation and you fall off). However, L4 and L5 are located off to the side, where the point and the two bodies form an equilateral triangle in the plane of the orbit. L4 and L5 are stable (you can have stable orbits around them). Trojan asteroids have been found at the Jupiter-Sun L4 and L5 points, but I believe this is the first planet-moon case.

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      I have a girlfriend whose name doesn't end in .JPG
  2. Stability? by Ulric · · Score: 3, Interesting
    "It sits in a spot near a larger moon where the gravitational pull of the other moon (Dione here) and the planet cancel each other out."

    How can that possibly be stable? Wouldn't the slightest deviation lead to the moon coming crashing down in either direction?

  3. Why Greek / Roman names? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Almost all the solar bodies have been (in English) named after Greek and Roman gods. Since English is a Germanic lanaguage, why not name some new ones after figures closer to home?

  4. How are moons still being found? by glrotate · · Score: 3, Interesting

    We can see lightyears and lightyears away with Hubble, and other large telescopes. So how is it were still finding moons in the solar system?

  5. Who decides? by slasho81 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Who decides on the names of these moons?