Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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.

6 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. Moon? by RDW · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  2. 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?

  3. Some contest by wcrowe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. I agree with the name choices because they make sense...

    However...

    2. What is the point of having a contest if you're not going to pick the winner?

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

    --
    Proverbs 21:19
  4. Re:Finally they are recognized! by musth · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, Rush and Pink Floyd should be next.

  5. Good on them by Dasher42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Vulcan is Hephaistos, the god of the forge. He has fiery, volcanic imagery, which is why when some astronomers suspected that there might be a planet closer to the Sun than Mercury, Vulcan was the proposed name. Really, Trek fans, a tiny icy moon of Pluto's was not the place to name after Vulcan, no matter how much we like Spock.

  6. 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.