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New Moons of Pluto Named Kerberos and Styx; Popular Choice 'Vulcan' Snubbed

Posted by Soulskill on from the you-have-defied-the-will-of-the-internet dept.

MarkWhittington writes "The International Astronomical Union announced on July 2, 2013 its picks to name the two recently discovered moons of Pluto, hitherto known as P4 and P5. They will now be known as Kerberos and Styx respectively. In Greek and Roman mythology Kerberos is the name of the mythological three headed hound that guards the entrance to the underworld. Styx is the name of the river that separated the underworld from the real world. The names, picked in a popular contest, were actually the second and third choices. The first choice was Vulcan, which was officially touted because it was the name of a Roman god who was a relative of Pluto's and was associated with fire and smoke. The real reason that Vulcan shot up to the top of the list was that was a choice by Star Trek fans in a campaign instigated by actor William Shatner, who played Captain James Kirk in the original series." Shatner is sad and may lead a revolt. Phil Plait wins the award for best headline for this news.

18 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. Styx Rawks! by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why must you be such an angry young man?

    1. Re:Styx Rawks! by Ol+Biscuitbarrel · · Score: 4, Funny

      Joel: Hey, c'mon, I'm serious. There existed a time when our nation took pride in its service stations. They gleamed like a beacon of hope from coast to coast. Then, ka-blooey, Sky Chief Super Service turned into the Tank and Tummy. I don't mind telling you, the day this country went self-service was the day Hell began to bubble up and flood the earth.
      Crow: Well, I hate to burst your bubble, Joel, but what about the bubonic plague? World war? Stalin?
      Joel: Well, those are all big things. Hell works better when it's a lot more subtle. Here, I'll give you an example. Okay, Crow, what do you think of Adolf Hitler?
      Crow: Well, I hate him, naturally.
      Joel: Right. Now, what do you think of the band Styx?
      Crow: Well, they had one or two decent...Oh my God, you're right!

    2. Re:Styx Rawks! by sconeu · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think you've got too much time on your hands.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  2. Shred of dignity by onyxruby · · Score: 3, Funny

    Thankfully real space programs prefer to operate with a shred of dignity and class. Next thing you know we would have demands to name a moon somewhere after a character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

  3. Wrong names by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    P4 should obviously have been named "FDIV" and P5 should have been "Core Solo".

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  4. Finally they are recognized! by h4rr4r · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am glad to finally see Styx get the recognition they deserve. I can't believe took this long though.

    1. Re:Finally they are recognized! by musth · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, Rush and Pink Floyd should be next.

    2. Re:Finally they are recognized! by six025 · · Score: 1, Funny

      Pleas don't put Rush in the same thread as Styx and Floyd.

      Not to nitpick, but you just put all 3 in the same sentence ;-)

  5. Moon? by RDW · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's no moon, that's a [ FRANCHISE ERROR DETECTED - Resetting]

  6. Re:So sick of popular geek culture. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm assuming that I shouldn't come to you with my "They should have named them 'Kerberos' and 'LDAP'" suggestion?

  7. Re:So sick of popular geek culture. by Stormwatch · · Score: 4, Funny

    Indeed. We could call it Jesus.

    --
    Circumcision is child abuse.
  8. QOTD by Spottywot · · Score: 4, Funny

    Shatner is sad

    Quote of the day.

    --
    In a cybernetic fit of rage she pissed off to another age...
  9. Re:Some contest by ArcadeMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    They should not hold a naming contest if they're just going to pick the names they want anyway.

    Sounds like voting in the USA and Canada.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  10. Re:So sick of popular geek culture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    No let's keep the Greek culture references. The next two moons discovered should be named Taxfraud and Bankruptcy.

  11. Re:Some contest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Because this way, it's democratic. That's how democracy works: the upper class lets you vote for what you want before doing what they want.

  12. Re:So sick of popular geek culture. by maxwell+demon · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, Jesus should clearly become the name of an Asteroid. One that has the chance to once get to earth and terminate life. Then even atheists can talk about how Jesus will come to the world and end it.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  13. In Shatners voice: by wbr1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Im [pause] mad [pause] Scotty [pause] fire up the warp engines [pause] Uhura hail the IAU [pause] Starfleet [pause] anybody. Well get [pause] a landing party and beam [pause] over [pause] and fix [pause] this.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
  14. Re:So sick of popular geek culture. by arth1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I heard Miranda had some sort of terraforming accident, but is pretty quiet now.

    Of course it is. It has the right to remain silent.