Trekkies Vote 'Vulcan' Into the Solar System

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Trekkies Vote 'Vulcan' Into the Solar System

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday February 26, 2013 @09:30AM from the live-long-and-prosper dept.

New submitter jollyrgr3 writes "If William Shatner gets his wish, one of Pluto's two new moons will be named Vulcan. The two small moons were discovered recently, and the SETI Institute launched an online poll to let people choose names. Captain Kirk himself suggested the names Vulcan and Romulus. Vulcan was accepted as a candidate, and Shatner exhorted his Twitter followers to vote. Vulcan ended up winning by a landslide, taking 174,000 of the 450,000 total responses. The next highest was Cerberus at just shy of 100,000. The names still have to be approved by the International Astronomical Union, as they have the final say. Leonard Nimoy approves."

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FU Trekkie geeks by GodfatherofSoul · 2013-02-26 09:31 · Score: 3, Funny

I'm starting a NEW poll for Wookie and Ewok.

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I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
1. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 09:37 · Score: 1
  
  I think you mistyped Kashyyyk and Endor.
2. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 09:40 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Don't you mean Kashyyyk and Endor?
3. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 09:41 · Score: 1
  
  Ewok is never said once in any star wars movie. It's not canon.
4. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by oodaloop · 2013-02-26 09:44 · Score: 1
  
  Well it sure as shit said Ewok on my Star Wars action figure.
  
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  Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
5. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 09:48 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Wouldn't it be better to try to get the entire Pluto mess renamed "Alderaan"?
6. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2013-02-26 09:49 · Score: 1
  
  Technically "Wankerhead" isn't a canon species name, either.
  
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  (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
7. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by Spy+Handler · 2013-02-26 10:06 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Wookie and Ewok are not in Greek or Roman mythology and do not qualify under the rules, while Vulcan does.
8. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by DarthStrydre · 2013-02-26 10:07 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Don't you mean the forest moon of Endor? I understand that the moon and the planet it orbited (long long ago) had the same name colloquially, but if we must be pedants, let us be truly pedantic.
9. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by rokstar · 2013-02-26 10:20 · Score: 2
  
  Traditionally its Roman for the planet name and Greek for the moons (Mars w/ Phobos and Deimos for example), so it should really be Hephaestus. The "rules" are some what flexible since Makemake and Haumea are neither Roman nor Greek.
10. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by GodfatherofSoul · 2013-02-26 10:38 · Score: 1
  
  I was aiming for the big one and the little one motif.
  
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  I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
11. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by c++0xFF · 2013-02-26 10:39 · Score: 1
  
  Pluto, Makemake, and Haumea are now officially designated "Plutoids" ... I think the rule there is to name them after various gods of creation. Pluto is, of course, an exception due to history.
  Moons in general have various naming schemes. Take Uranus, for example, where many moons are named after characters from Shakespeare's plays, of all things.
  The moons of Pluto have so far been named after things associated with Pluto. I know of nothing that associates Vulcan with Pluto, however, other than his connection with fire ... which Christians associate with the underworld. Whoops.
12. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by rokstar · 2013-02-26 10:56 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't realize there was a rule associated with dwarf planets naming. And like I said the moon names were only traditionally Greek to their Roman counterparts. Uranus is the biggest exception to that tradition but the others largely follow it including Pluto. All that being said, I agree that its a pretty long stretch to get from Vulcan to Pluto. There are plenty of other Greek names one could use. Nerdom aside Cerberus should have won, or Persephone or Lethe for that matter (though it would likely be the easiest one to forget.)
13. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by gmuslera · 2013-02-26 10:56 · Score: 2
  
  Would be a trap to propose Death Star. That's no moon.
14. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by aoteoroa · 2013-02-26 11:29 · Score: 2
  
  Wouldn't Hoth have been a better choice anyway? Vulcan was hot.
15. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by Pseudonym · 2013-02-26 11:35 · Score: 1
  
  You're right that the word is never said, but that's irrelevent. The word appears in the original ROTJ credits at least twice, in the script and in the novelisation, in both Caravan of Courage and The Battle for Endor, and is also Word of God.
  From the relevant Wikipedia page:
  
  G-canon is absolute canon; the movies (their most recent release), the scripts, the novelizations of the movies, the radio plays, and any statements by George Lucas himself. G-canon overrides the lower levels of canon when there is a contradiction. Within G-canon, many fans follow an unofficial progression of canonicity where the movies are the highest canon, followed by the scripts, the novelizations, and then the radio plays.
  Yes, the word "Ewok" is canon.
  
  --
  sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
16. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by tehcyder · 2013-02-26 23:58 · Score: 1
  
  If there's anything more pathetic than a Star Wars fanboy criticising Star Trek fanboys for being too geeky, I've yet to meet it.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
17. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by tehcyder · 2013-02-27 00:00 · Score: 1
  
  I'm genuinely glad to see this troll growing and taking on a life of its own. It's approaching "MyCleanPC" levels of hilarity.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
18. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by RockDoctor · 2013-02-27 07:49 · Score: 1
  
  I agree that its a pretty long stretch to get from Vulcan to Pluto.
  Not what I'd call a long stretch, genealogically. Vulcan / Vulkan / Hephaestus is a son of Zeus/ Jupiter, who is brother of Pluto / Hades ; therefore the relationship is a nephew-uncle one. Vulcan is more associated with volcanoes ("D'oh") than the undeworld specifically, but given that his workshop is traditionally under (whichever volcano is erupting at the moment), he's definitely a chthonic deity.
  I'm not a great fan of Trekkie-dom myself, but I think that they've done an adequate job of justifying what, to them, is the (one-true-right-and-only-possible-)answer.
  Incidentally, I note that "Hephaistos" would probably be an inadmissible name, already being attached to a minor planet. As is Cerberus (#1865, discovered by Kohoutek of "comet" fame), Elysium (probably ; location on Mars), Erebus (probably, location on Earth), Heracles (#5143), Hypnos (#14827), Orpheus (#3361), Persephone (#399), Proserpina (#26, discovered and named in 1853!), Sisyphus (#1866), and Tantalus (#2102).
  That's actually quite disappointing - I'd have expected a respectable group such as the SETI institute to have checked issues like this before putting out their list for voting. 11 invalid (or likely to significant challenge) names out of 30. Could have had some severe egg on their faces.
  
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19. Re:FU Trekkie geeks by antdah · 2013-02-27 19:07 · Score: 1
  
  Provided there's a forest, "the forest moon of Pluto" makes sense.
That will just confuse things. by khasim · 2013-02-26 09:33 · Score: 5, Insightful

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(hypothetical_planet)
Vulcan was the name of the hypothetical planet between Mercury and the Sun.
1. Re:That will just confuse things. by ShanghaiBill · 2013-02-26 09:43 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Vulcan was the name of the hypothetical planet between Mercury and the Sun.
  That made sense because Vulcan was the name of the Roman god of fire. It seems like an odd name for a moon frozen at 43K (-230C).
2. Re:That will just confuse things. by OakDragon · 2013-02-26 09:54 · Score: 1
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(hypothetical_planet)
  Vulcan was the name of the hypothetical planet between Mercury and the Sun.
  Not to worry! Since Pluto is not a "planet", this is not a "moon". The proper term is "mooninite"!
  
  --
  Dark Reflection
3. Re:That will just confuse things. by guises · 2013-02-26 09:57 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  You can't name moons after gods anyway, it's against the convention. Planets get named after gods. Cerberus is the more appropriate name.
4. Re:That will just confuse things. by erice · 2013-02-26 10:10 · Score: 2
  
  Vulcan was the name of the hypothetical planet between Mercury and the Sun.
  That made sense because Vulcan was the name of the Roman god of fire. It seems like an odd name for a moon frozen at 43K (-230C).
  It doesn't make sense for the Trek reference either. Vulcan is supposed to be warmer than Earth.
5. Re:That will just confuse things. by fph+il+quozientatore · 2013-02-26 10:22 · Score: 2
  
  Well, since Pluto is already a non-planet with a God's name...
  
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  Hell Segmentation fault
6. Re:That will just confuse things. by Tarlus · 2013-02-26 11:01 · Score: 1
  
  It was also a planet in the fiction, so they're not basing it on much more than just the name.
  
  --
  /* No Comment */
7. Re:That will just confuse things. by rubycodez · 2013-02-26 11:17 · Score: 1
  
  wrong, Mars' moons are named after gods. Phobos god of horror and his twin brother Deimos god of terror. there are other examples.....
8. Re:That will just confuse things. by guises · 2013-02-26 11:39 · Score: 1
  
  Well you're right, although Phobos and Deimos are at least Greek gods, not Roman. Is that at least a rule that people have stuck with? Planets = Roman, other objects = Greek?
  
  Answer: Nope. Ceres is a Roman goddess. I suppose that works now that Ceres is a dwarf planet, but I am disappointed by our astronomers' lack of consistency.
9. Re:That will just confuse things. by rubycodez · 2013-02-26 13:55 · Score: 1
  
  Also Uranus is a Greek not Roman deity,she was husband of Gaius (Earth)
10. Re:That will just confuse things. by osu-neko · 2013-02-26 14:05 · Score: 1
  
  You can't name moons after gods anyway, it's against the convention.
  Then why are there already over a dozen moons named after gods? Or are you saying "god" when you mean "Olympian"?
  
  --
  "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
11. Re:That will just confuse things. by rubycodez · 2013-02-26 14:07 · Score: 1
  
  heheh, meant "he" not she. He was castrated by the youngest titan Cronos, Gaius put her son up to the job because she was tired of bearing children he hated and mistrusted and banished.
12. Re:That will just confuse things. by bitt3n · 2013-02-26 16:11 · Score: 1
  
  Cerberus is the more appropriate name.
  I disagree. what could be more confusing then naming both the planet and the moon after dogs?
  
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13. Re:That will just confuse things. by PPH · 2013-02-26 17:29 · Score: 1
  
  Is there a god of alimony? That one might be more appropriate to the cold.
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
14. Re:That will just confuse things. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 23:30 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Well, since Pluto is already a non-planet with a God's name...
  Surely you mean that Pluto is a non-planet with a *dog's* name? :-)
15. Re:That will just confuse things. by RockDoctor · 2013-02-27 07:55 · Score: 1
  
  The important word in that comment is "hypothetical". It didn't exist when proposed, doesn't exist today, and won't exist until we get seriously better at space construction projects. I had a hypothetical dog called khasim1285 back in 1995. Give me his user name back!
  
  --
  Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
16. Re:That will just confuse things. by rubycodez · 2013-03-05 05:20 · Score: 1
  
  don't worry ,they won't be offended. the greek/roman gods were the original gender-bending LBTG community
Can we name something Jar Jar? by OzPeter · 2013-02-26 09:37 · Score: 1

Especially something that is going to crash and burn in a horrible way in the near future?

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1. Re:Can we name something Jar Jar? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 10:14 · Score: 1
  
  Naming it Jar Jar would probably guarantee that outcome....
Re:Very Amazing by Capt.DrumkenBum · 2013-02-26 09:39 · Score: 3, Insightful

No, the thing that amazes me most is that Shatner has twitter followers!!
Shatner is a very funny man, who doesn't take himself very seriously.
Why wouldn't he have twitter followers?

--
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
Hrm by Jarnin · 2013-02-26 09:40 · Score: 4, Informative

While I'm a huge fan of Star Trek and Astronomy in general, I don't think a moon of Pluto should be called Vulcan. Why? The name "Vulcan" is from Roman mythology, and is the name of the Roman god of fire and volcanos. Last I checked, Pluto and it's moons were too far away from the Sun to have any connection to fire and volcanos. In other words, Pluto's moons are too far outside of the system to make the name "Vulcan" appropriate. I hope the IAU has the sense to name this moon after something that fits contextually.

Now if they'd discovered that Mercury had a moon, Vulcan would be the obvious choice!
1. Re:Hrm by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 09:52 · Score: 1
  
  Fascinating....
2. Re:Hrm by FatLittleMonkey · 2013-02-26 12:06 · Score: 2
  
  I hope the IAU has the sense to name this moon after something that fits contextually.
  You mean like gods or attendants associated with the underworld? Like Pluto? God of the underworld. Or Charon? Ferryman. Or Nix? Mother of Charon. Or Hydra? Okay, Hydra's a bit obscure. Apparently Hydra's lair was an entrance to the underworld used by Hercules.
  Vulcan and Pluto are related (I mean biologically, as well as thematically. Or whatever deities have instead of biology.)
  
  --
  Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
3. Re:Hrm by codemachine · 2013-02-26 14:08 · Score: 2
  
  When I think of Vulcans, I think cold and distant.
  So perhaps it works for a moon of Pluto after all.
4. Re:Hrm by RockDoctor · 2013-02-27 08:09 · Score: 1
  
  Last I checked, Pluto and it's moons were too far away from the Sun to have any connection to fire and volcano(e)s.
  The first planet in towards the Sun from Pluto (dodging the is it/ isn't it planet status debate) has a satellite with active volcanism.
  OK, the working fluid is liquid nitrogen IIRC, but it's still active volcanoes, closer to Pluto than to Earth (sometimes).
  Without doing the sums ... but wearing my "I'm a professional geologist speaking in my field" tee-shirt ... there's a good chance that the commonest "rock type" in the solar system (or universe) is "water ice".
  
  --
  Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
these moons have been hard to find by ozduo · 2013-02-26 09:46 · Score: 5, Funny

so please call one "G spot"

--
I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
1. Re:these moons have been hard to find by gaudior · 2013-02-26 09:49 · Score: 1
  
  If I only had Mod points for you. /well-done
Trekkies jumping the gun by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 09:46 · Score: 2

It's a shame really that all those Trekkies are jumping on this bandwagon.
Just think how silly they'll feel when we start voting on names for exoplanets and the name Vulan is already in use.
1. Re:Trekkies jumping the gun by FatLittleMonkey · 2013-02-26 12:09 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  They did the same thing with the shuttle Enterprise. A drop-test glider that never flew in space. Well done boys.
  
  --
  Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
Re:No Norris? by icebike · 2013-02-26 09:46 · Score: 1

There is no planet under discussion here. Didn't you get the memo?
But if you are going to go that way, name one moon Natalie and the other Portman.

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Simply by Sparticus789 · 2013-02-26 09:47 · Score: 2

One does not simply vote Vulcan into our solar system. It is 16 light years away.

--
sudo make me a sandwich
Men become gods by Mandrel · 2013-02-26 09:47 · Score: 3, Interesting

I voted for Orpheus and Eurydice. I thought it fitting that probably the last two decent-sized objects in the planetary part of the solar system be named after a man and his god-wife to symbolize humanity's progress.
1. Re:Men become gods by camperdave · 2013-02-26 11:47 · Score: 1
  
  Meh. Name them Mickey and Minnie.
  
  --
  When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
WTF? It's a lifeless, cold moon. by ggraham412 · 2013-02-26 09:48 · Score: 2

Mythology notwithstanding, even in the Star Trek universe Vulcan is a hot desert planet. Not a cold, dead moon.
1. Re:WTF? It's a lifeless, cold moon. by maxwell+demon · 2013-02-26 10:17 · Score: 1
  
  Temperature has nothing to do with what defines a desert.
  Otherwise in "hot desert planet" the "hot" would be redundant. Your point being?
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
2. Re:WTF? It's a lifeless, cold moon. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 10:19 · Score: 1
  
  In the Star Trek universe, Vulcan doesn't exist anymore.
3. Re:WTF? It's a lifeless, cold moon. by RockDoctor · 2013-02-27 08:24 · Score: 1
  
  Temperature has nothing to do with what defines a desert.
  Otherwise in "hot desert planet" the "hot" would be redundant. Your point being?
  The AC is correct. Temperature has nothing to do with the definition of a desert. What matters is precipitation, or the lack of it.
  The interior of Tibet is one of the larger deserts on the Earth, at 4000-odd metres altitude, and with significant salt deposits which form part of the Sherpa's historical trading network. Another large desert is in the centre of Antarctica, where the air is so dry (particularly in the winter) that it is being used as a site for infra-red telescopes (which are particularly sensitive to atmospheric moisture).
  Mars is described as a desert planet because it is not subject to rainforest-like rainfall. In the past Mars was significantly wetter, which period is named the "Noachian", in deference to the flood described in the Gilgamesh epic and later copied by the monotheists.
  
  --
  Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
4. Re:WTF? It's a lifeless, cold moon. by maxwell+demon · 2013-02-27 08:50 · Score: 1
  
  The AC is correct. Temperature has nothing to do with the definition of a desert. What matters is precipitation, or the lack of it.
  
  But the Star Trek planet "Vulcan" is both hot and a desert planet. Thus it is a hot desert planet. Nowhere did the OP imply that "hot" was a defining characteristic of a desert. As I wrote, if "hot" were a defining characteristic of a desert, the "hot" in "hot desert planet" would be redundant; you could as well say "desert planet" in that case. Therefore if the explicit mention of "hot" suggests anything about the definition of a desert, it suggests that "hot" is not a part of that definition. Therefore while the AC's statement as such is correct, the implied message that the OP got it wrong is false.
  Note that I also nowhere did claim that the AC's direct claim was wrong. Quite the opposite; if it were wrong, my reply would not have made any sense at all.
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
5. Re:WTF? It's a lifeless, cold moon. by maxwell+demon · 2013-02-28 11:20 · Score: 1
  
  Well, if the post explicitly says "in the Star Trek universe" it is a strong hint that it is about the Star Trek planet, not the Plutonian moon. And I didn't learn all arcana of the Star Trek universe either. I just learned how to do an internet search. However, the formulation was already clear enough without it; I only looked to make sure that the AC wasn't using knowledge of the Star Trek planet not being hot when making that statement (in which case he would have had a point). It did, however, confirm that the Star Trek planet is hot (and a desert planet), and thus the AC's comment is indeed as out of place as it seemed.
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
I also approve... by Cpt_Kirks · 2013-02-26 09:49 · Score: 2

Make it so.
1. Re:I also approve... by OzPeter · 2013-02-26 09:54 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Make it so.
  You should hand in your Geek card. It was that pussy Picard who used that phrase.
  
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2. Re:I also approve... by Cpt_Kirks · 2013-02-26 10:25 · Score: 1
  
  You SERIOUSLY thought that was not intentional?
  And miss the ensuing Kirk -vs- Picard flame war?
  NO WAY!
3. Re:I also approve... by OzPeter · 2013-02-26 10:37 · Score: 1
  
  You SERIOUSLY thought that was not intentional?
  And miss the ensuing Kirk -vs- Picard flame war?
  NO WAY!
  Hey you got 3 replies of me saying pussy, you should thank me for that .. lol
  
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  I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
4. Re:I also approve... by servognome · 2013-02-26 12:32 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly, Kirk was more "beautifully metaphoric" with his commands.
  Like in Star Trek 6 "second star to the right, and straight on til morning"
  
  --
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5. Re:I also approve... by dywolf · 2013-02-27 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  you are what you eat.
  
  --
  The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Re:Very Amazing by Jason+Levine · 2013-02-26 09:50 · Score: 1

William Shatner has over 1.3 million Twitter followers. If we assume that every vote was thanks to his plea for votes, then he had about a 13% response rate. Not too shabby.
(For the record, Leonard Nimoy has 450,000 Twitter followers.)

--
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Dictionary Much? by clarkn0va · 2013-02-26 09:53 · Score: 1

174,000/450,000 is not a landslide.

--
I am literally 3000 tokens away from the chaotic crossbow --Stephen
1. Re:Dictionary Much? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 10:10 · Score: 1
  
  Sure it was. You forget the vote was in America. The Electoral College vote for the naming process was 452 to 112.
2. Re:Dictionary Much? by dywolf · 2013-02-27 06:26 · Score: 1
  
  it is when the next runner up only had half as many votes at only 87.8k.
  "Vulcan was the only candidate with more than 100,000 votes."
  "Rounding out the top five were Styx (87,858 votes), Persephone (68,969 votes) and Orpheus (51,197 votes)."
  Hmm. Maybe you shoulda RTFA, eh?
  
  --
  The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
3. Re:Dictionary Much? by clarkn0va · 2013-02-27 06:42 · Score: 1
  
  Nope. Majority means more than half. No majority = no landslide.
  
  --
  I am literally 3000 tokens away from the chaotic crossbow --Stephen
Re:That's no moon... by broken_chaos · 2013-02-26 09:54 · Score: 1

...it's a mass relay?
Downgraded from fiction to reality by mynameiskhan · 2013-02-26 10:02 · Score: 4, Funny

I guess now it is being downgraded to a moon of a former planet.
Since there's new Star Trek Movies by Roman+Coder · 2013-02-26 10:07 · Score: 4, Funny

In keeping with the new Star Trek movies, they should be called "Lens" and "Flare".

--
"The future can only affect the present if there is room to write its influence off as a mistake." - Yakir Aharonov
Re:Meh. by Dins · 2013-02-26 10:07 · Score: 4, Insightful

So start submitting articles...
Re:That name is HIGHLY inappropriate... by bughunter · 2013-02-26 10:09 · Score: 2

The logic here is 1) that Pluto was Vulcan's Uncle, and 2) Vulcan kept a subterranean smithy beneath Mt. Aetna, which could be construed as the underworld... loosely.
At least we didn't get "Styx."
Laaaaaay-deeeee....

--
I can see the fnords!
Vulcan orbits Pluto by Ukab+the+Great · 2013-02-26 10:17 · Score: 1

And Pluto orbits William Shatner.
1. Re:Vulcan orbits Pluto by Longjmp · 2013-02-26 10:58 · Score: 1
  
  Considered Shatner's current mass, pretty much everything will orbit him ;-)
  
  (ok, I admit I haven't seen any recent pictures)
  
  --
  There are fewer illiterates than people who can't read.
2. Re:Vulcan orbits Pluto by a_hanso · 2013-02-26 16:01 · Score: 1
  
  And Pluto orbits William Shatner.
  And Shatner orbits Uranus.
Re:Insult to Vulcan and illogical to Sol system na by maxwell+demon · 2013-02-26 10:28 · Score: 1

For Pete's sake, we name planets after gods.
Do you any source that Pete really wants that? :-)

--
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Bit premature by mister2au · 2013-02-26 10:38 · Score: 2

We will take into consideration the results of the voting, but they are not binding. The discovery team, in consultation with the Nomenclature Working Groups of the International Astronomical Union, reserves the right to propose the names. Note that the International Astronomical Union has final authority over the naming of Pluto's moons.
IAU has the final say and would be likely to reject this name I would think for scientific consistency with their previous naming conventions.
And the discovers are not even saying they will propose this name to IAU - just that they will consider the voting.
So dont hold your breath !
1. Re:Bit premature by geekoid · 2013-02-26 12:53 · Score: 1
  
  If you voted for this, yes, please hold your breath.
  
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Brilliant pre-emptive strike by Shatner! by Provocateur · 2013-02-26 10:40 · Score: 1

That way, if any Vulcans or Romulans from an alternate dimension do wind up here, seeking "James Kirk" or "Spock", we can point at the visitors from the /finger quotes "Alternate dimension" /close finger quotes and mock and say, those barren cold moons of Pluto?? No frickin way!

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Cerberus... by Mr.+Slippery · 2013-02-26 10:52 · Score: 2

Save the name Vulcan for a desert exoplanet. The Legion of Space, classic space opera by Jack Williamson, mentions a moon of Pluto named Cerberus. It's the only correct choice.

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1. Re:Cerberus... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 10:59 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Save the name Vulcan for a desert exoplanet.
  A desert exoplanet will be properly named Arrakis, you insensitive clod.
2. Re:Cerberus... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 12:23 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  You misspelt Tatooine, you nerf herder.
Re:Meh. by Tarlus · 2013-02-26 10:59 · Score: 2

Yeah, but this is astronomy and Star Trek, all rolled into one!

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Re:When Vulcan is voted down by the IAU by gmuslera · 2013-02-26 11:12 · Score: 1

Voted for those ones, were the ones that are actually closer to Pluto in mythology on the available ones.
In the other hand, having Vulcan and Romulus in our solar system could give a push to outer solar system exploration. Colonizing Vulcan could end being the logical choice.
And When We Find a Planet at 40 Eridani A? by reallocate · 2013-02-26 11:34 · Score: 1

Everyone who knows anything knows Vulcan orbits 40 Eridani A.
We just haven't found it, yet.

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1. Re:And When We Find a Planet at 40 Eridani A? by a_hanso · 2013-02-26 16:05 · Score: 1
  
  My thought exactly. It would have been a lot cooler to have an actual planet named Vulcan.
Fucking idiots by geekoid · 2013-02-26 12:52 · Score: 2

These are the same idiots that did a write in campaign to have the first shuttle names Enterprise..even though it would never fly into orbit.
Oh look, it a references to a TV show I enjoy, we must mindlessly vote for it even though it is only a moon and nothing like the planet in my TV show.
Disgusting. If it was an extra solar planet? that would have been fine.
I say this and I am a Trekkie...just not a mindless one.

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Styx & Kerberos ? by mister2au · 2013-02-26 13:53 · Score: 1

My money is on 2nd and 3rd choices:
Styx - a river in Greek mythology that formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld
Kerberos - a multi-headed hound which guards the gates of the Underworld, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping
These form a nice pair and are themed on the transition from Earth to another world (the underworld) ...
Pluto is very much a transition from our planetary system to interstellar space (or at least the Oort cloud)
Astronomers do see still the romance in the skys and are quite apt to draw these parallels.
1. Re:Styx & Kerberos ? by RockDoctor · 2013-02-27 08:59 · Score: 1
  
  I like your reasoning, and I'm sure such considerations will weigh with the discoverers (who get to propose the name) and the IAU (who approve or disapprove the proposed name).
  I can't say that I'm excited by "Vulcan" as a name for this satellite, but at least the forms of etymology have been followed.
  IIRC, these are neither the inner-most (known) satellites of Pluto, nor the outermost. Which makes naming them awkward. As the guardian of the (earthly) entrance to the underworld, Kerberos should be at the very edge of the Pluto system. As the outer border of Hades, it should be interior to Kerberos (and Hydra, and the other guardians of the portals) ; but I can't remember the sequence in which the rivers are crossed, so I don't know which one should be interior to which others.
  But "Meh", if I'd wanted to argue over the dancing angel areal density of pinheads, I'd have studied Classics, not Geology. "Vulcan" does follow the rules closely enough to be considered.
  
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confusing by stenvar · 2013-02-26 14:04 · Score: 1

Naming some really cold moons of a planetoid after a widely-known fictional hot inhabited planet seems like a recipe for confusion.
Well if Nimoy approves... by Mal-2 · 2013-02-26 15:30 · Score: 1

I wasn't too keen on the idea either, until Leonard Nimoy approved. After all, he was the prototype Vulcan, and with his new career in erotic photography, he's quite well qualified to be naming moons...

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If they call it Vulcan, JJ Abrams must blow it up by bussdriver · 2013-02-26 15:48 · Score: 1

If they call it Vulcan, JJ Abrams must blow it up.

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Yeah well FU trekkies and Starwarries by cellocgw · 2013-02-27 05:40 · Score: 1

Clearly the only choice is to name the larger moon "Colbert."
Since some trekkie will think that naming the other one "Stewart" means Jean-Luc, maybe name it Tosh.0 instead.

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Re:Meh. by RockDoctor · 2013-02-27 07:52 · Score: 1

Ohhh, catty!
Mind you, it's a few weeks since I submitted one, and longer since I had one accepted, so I'd better peel my eyes too.

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Re:Very Amazing by RockDoctor · 2013-02-27 08:00 · Score: 1

Shatner has Twitter followers who get paid to operate robots on Mars. That is probably the coolest thing about Old Beastiality himself.
(Having sex outside your species is beastiality, even if they do look like member of your species with prosthetic rubber glued onto their faces, arms or tits.)

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Re:When Vulcan is voted down by the IAU by RockDoctor · 2013-02-27 08:30 · Score: 1

Cerberus guarded one of the (Earthly) entrances to the underworld ; Styx marked the border between the underworld and the Earth. The only times that either would have been close to Pluto was when he was on a tour of his realm's most distant parts.
If you wanted something on the list which was routinely close to Pluto, then Persephone/ Proserpina would likely have been the best choice. Unfortunately, as I explain up-thread, those names are (almost certainly) invalid.

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If Pluto isn't a planet anymore how can it have... by zodwallopp · 2013-02-28 09:40 · Score: 1

According to the dictionary a moon is: A natural satellite revolving around a planet. So how can Pluto have moons if it's not a planet anymore? Is there a more scientific definition of a moon, because I think we're just naming an asteroid at this point.