Girl Who Named Pluto, At 11, Dies At 90

notthepainter notes the passing of the woman who, as an 11-year-old girl, named Pluto. "Frozen and lonely, Planet X circled the far reaches of the solar system awaiting discovery and a name. It got one thanks to an 11-year-old British girl named Venetia Burney, an enthusiast of the planets and classical myth. On March 14, 1930, the day newspapers reported that the long-suspected 'trans-Neptunian body' had been photographed for the first time, she proposed to her well-connected grandfather that it be named Pluto, after the Roman god of the underworld. Venetia Phair, as she became by marriage, died April 30 in her home in Banstead, in the county of Surrey, England. She was 90. ... More vexing to Mrs. Phair was the persistent notion that she had taken the name from the Disney character. 'It has now been satisfactorily proven that the dog was named after the planet, rather than the other way around,' she told the BBC. 'So, one is vindicated.' " Venetia's great-uncle Henry, who was a housemaster at Eton, had successfully proposed that the two dwarf moons of Mars be named Phobos and Deimos.

Comments

But Pluto's not even a planet!

[bigjarom]

How is this even a story? Maybe if she had named a REAL planet...

Re:But Pluto's not even a planet!

[flyingsquid]

Wait a minute, so Pluto is not named after the dog in the Disney cartoons? So would that mean that Pluto's moon isn't actually named Goofy? Aw, hell... I guess I just got an F on that paper for my astronomy class.

Re:But Pluto's not even a planet!

[Col Estrol]

true, Pluto sure turned out to be a mickey mouse planet

Re:But Pluto's not even a planet!

[iggymanz]

it still has the name Venetia B. gave it, and it will still have that name even if Western civilization falls, for example in Japanese and Chinese it's "Netherworld King", translating her name by calling the god Pluto by his title. In a thousand years it's likely her name will have survived.

Damned Disney

[karaage]

Ripping off public domain folk tales was not enough. They had to go after the planets, too.

Re:Damned Disney

[Darkness404]

...By practically claiming it as your own? How many people think that The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White and Pinocchio were thought up by Disney? I would imagine that most kids, and a good amount of adults think that, at least for some of them.

Sure, its not wrong because public domain works are meant to be copied. But it kinda kills part of the experience to know that the movies you thought Disney did a great job doing, had been around for centuries before Walt was born.

Re:Damned Disney

[Stormwatch]

By buying laws that make sure their stuff won't ever fall into public domain.

Re:Damned Disney

[residieu]

That's the beauty of the public domain. Anyone can take those ideas and characters and make something out of them. Disney did a really great job adapting these old tales. The fact that they weren't original ideas by Disney doesn't take away from that (did anyone ever think Disney came up with them?) Dreamworks was able to use many of those same characters in their Shrek movies, because they're not Disney's characters, they're everyone's characters.

God speed

[elashish14]

We'll forever remember your contribution(s) to the scientific community.

Re:God speed

[MillionthMonkey]

She outlived her planet.

Re:God speed

[syousef]

She outlived her planet.

She outlived the classification of the body she named as a planet. You do realize that if the IAU called Pluto a Turnip (which sadly makes about as much sense as their definition of Planet) it would make no difference whatsoever to the body itself. The odds are pretty good that Pluto will outlive the human race.

Re:like a zebra.

[linzeal]

If you knew your history or had read the article linked in the header, you would.

Pluto Replies

[earlymon]

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/sciencemath/8964/zoom/

Rock on, Venetia, rock on.

Just Wow

[drinkypoo]

It got one thanks to an 11-year-old British girl named Venetia Burney, an enthusiast of the planets and classical myth. [...] she proposed to her well-connected grandfather that it be named Pluto, after the Roman god of the underworld.

Now THAT is a nerd's nerd. At the age of eleven, names a planet after a Roman god. I can just picture it now. "Grandfather, I rather think that naming it aaaafter the god Pluto might be the most appropriate course." Maybe I've seen too many Fruit Newton commercials, though.

Re:Just Wow

[catmistake]

Now THAT is a nerd's nerd. At the age of eleven, names a planet after a Roman god.

Not all that original, really... they're all named after Roman gods. Now if she had suggested "Loki" or perhaps "Hellboy," I'd call her my nerd.

Re:Just Wow

[syousef]

Now THAT is a nerd's nerd. At the age of eleven, names a planet after a Roman god. I can just picture it now. "Grandfather, I rather think that naming it aaaafter the god Pluto might be the most appropriate course." Maybe I've seen too many Fruit Newton commercials, though.

These days the kid would never be allowed to read classic Greek Mythology at age 11 lest it damage their precious innocent psyche, or prompt them to go postal at school.

greek underworld != christian hell

[panthroman]

TFA quotes Neil deGrasse Tyson saying "Pluto is the god of the underworld, a distant place you don't want to go to," and Capt. Freeman saying "Pluto is the prototype of Satan in many minds..."

The Greek underworld is more akin to the entire Christian afterlife. Sure, it had Hell-like Tartarus, but it also had the Heaven-like Elysian Fields (in French: Champs-Elysees), and plenty of places between.

And Pluto/Hades was certainly no Satan! In at least one myth, the brothers Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades drew lots to see who would rule the air, sea, and underworld. Zeus drew first and chose air. Poseidon was thrilled, because he wanted the sea anyway. And poor Hades was stuck with the underworld.

Also from TFA, "...scientists at the Lowell Observatory voted unanimously for Pluto, partly because its first two letters could be interpreted as an homage to Percival Lowell..." Very cool.

Re:greek underworld != christian hell

[Ian Alexander]

And poor Hades was stuck with the underworld.

Yah, cause Satan is so thrilled with Hell.

Maybe the link between Hell and Hades had to do with its portrayals in verse. I remember in the Odyssey, when Odysseus called up all the dead spirits trying to find Teiresias (or however the hell you spell it), NOBODY liked Hades, and from the sound of it he talked to like everybody who died in the Iliad and then some. Surely one or two of the people he talked to would have gone to the nicer spots out of random chance? Like maybe one of the Aiantes?

Re:Goofy

[Lemmy Caution]

What I find baffling is that Goofy is a dog, and Pluto is a dog. But Goofy wears clothes, drives, and talks - and Pluto just runs around, barks and wags his tail.

It's just... not right.

plutonic != platonic

[panthroman]

Plutonic?

Astrological etymologies:
Mercurial - unpredictable temperment
Venereal - sexually indulgent
Lunatic - crazy
Martial - war-like
Saturnine - gloomy
Jovial - happy

But "nepotism" is from nephew, not Neptune. And "platonic" is from Plato, not Pluto.

Re:Goofy

[Austerity Empowers]

Pluto is a dog's dog. Goofy is a dog trying to be a man.

If I ran around sniffing crotches and licking my goods, I'd...never get out of the house. What was my point again?

Re:Goofy

[beav007]

Pluto is a dog's dog. Goofy is a dog trying to be a man.

Actually, Pluto is a mouses dog.

Re:Goofy

[FatdogHaiku]

What I find baffling is that Goofy is a dog, and Pluto is a dog. But Goofy wears clothes, drives, and talks - and Pluto just runs around, barks and wags his tail.

You know, that's not very far out there when you are talking about this group. Years ago when Minnie started acting strange, many thought she had had a psychotic break, some said that she was just plain crazy... In the end, it turned out she was just fu*king Goofy...

Re:Goofy

[Lemmy Caution]

Should we respect Goofy's aspiration to transcend his origins and disapprove of Pluto's ignomy, or should we reject Goofy as a social-climbing pretender and admire Pluto's authenticity?

Makes one wonder

[mysidia]

So where's the C&D letter against Disney for using the name she coined for a planet?

Surely it causes consumer confusion.. I mean, when I see titles like The Complete Pluto, Volume One; I expect a DVD authorized by the foundation or scientists who discovered the planet, and it to be about the planet.

But instead the proper trade name as assigned the Pluto brand planet is used with a piece of fiction in a manner that is not only confusing but dilutes the mark...

Re:Goofy

[dudpixel]

we are tackling the big issues here today aren't we?

Re:despite the fact

[mister_playboy]

Neither Neptune nor Pluto are ever bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. In optimal conditions and near its opposition with Earth, Uranus can be visible to someone with excellent eyesight.

Re:despite the fact

[Thing 1]

[...] Uranus can be visible to someone with excellent eyesight.

or a couple of mirrors. Oh wait, your anus? That's visible to most anyone, mister playboy. :)

When I was your age...

[Culture20]

When I was your age, Pluto was Planet X!

-Venetia Phair

Re:Goofy

[Obyron]

I think it's clear to any REAL dog that Goofy is nothing but an uppity Uncle Rover, sitting and rolling over for the massah to get a handout.

My wife looked after her

[hoofie]

My wife [a senior nurse] came home from work one day about 4 years ago saying that she and her staff had been looking after an old lady on a ward at Epsom General Hospital. One of the surgeons pointed her out and said she was rather special since had named the planet Pluto. Apparently the old lady was very pleasant and polite but hadn't told anyone of her claim to fame.

Not really believing this story I googled a bit and found a name. My wife refused to tell me the name of the woman but when I said 'Venetia Phair' she was very surprised as she thought the whole thing was a massive wind-up.