
This photo provided and annotated by NASA / Hubble Space Telescope shows the five moons in their orbits around Pluto. The smallest moons — no more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) across — were discovered in the last two years and are currently referred to as P4 and P5. (AP Photo / NASA / Hubble Space Telescope)
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This file image provided by NASA on Feb. 22, 2006, from its Hubble Space Telescope shows Pluto and three of its five moons. (AP Photo / NASA)
LinkTwo of Pluto’s moons need naming, and scientists are asking for your help.
The moons are fairly recent discoveries, which is why they haven’t been given official names yet. The one currently known as P4 was discovered in the summer of 2011. The one currently designated as P5 was discovered in the summer of 2012.
Space discovery tradition holds that the person who finds a new object in space has 10 years to suggest a name for it. But not just any old name will do — the International Astronomical Union has rules for these things. The proposed name should be 16 characters or less in length, only a single word, pronounceable (so no elaborate set of initials), non-offensive, and shouldn’t sound too much like the name of another minor planet or natural planetary satellite.
PHOTOS: Awesome images from space
By this convention, the naming of P4 and P5 falls to Mark Showalter, a senior research scientist at the SETI Institute who led one of the teams that found the two moons. Showalter has already had some experience finding and naming moons — he discovered and named Pan, the innermost moon of Saturn, and two moons of Uranus — Mab and Cupid.
But this time, he decided to open the naming experience to the public. He created a website called Pluto Rocks, where people can vote on a new name for the moons.
Unfortunately, the naming field is not wide open. Pluto has three other named moons — Charon, Hydra and Nix — all pulled from Greek mythology and all related to Hades and the underworld. So Showalter has selected 12 potential names and is asking people to vote on their favorite.
The voting started on Monday and will end at noon EST on Feb. 25. As of this writing, Styx (as in the river) is in the lead with 8,000 and Cerberus (the three-headed dog who guards the gates of the underworld) is in second.
Showalter is willing to consider additional names, however, and there is a place on the site for a write-in ballot.
But Batman and Robin, for instance, won’t work.
– Deborah Netburn
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Comments
It's gotta be Chip and Dale
Micky and Minny of course since plluto was their dog
you got it
Cerberus and Hell’s Gate
How about moe, Larry and curly
Pluto’s moon names:
hanibaal and kadmous
Cerebus and Orthrus. Orthrus was the hell hound brother of Cerebus.
This one's actually pretty cool, especially since most of the planets are already named from the Greco-Roman times/names. These names have my votes!
P4 = pope benedict xvi
P5 = pope benedict xvii
Elmira and Tristar
dan & jan
I'LL SAY. TROY n' CLEOPRATA
I'M WATING TO B. APPRV.
Mickey and Goofy?
Mickey and Donald?
Bosco and Remus?
Whatever!
Son of a planet!
Obama & Putin
I'd like to send Obama a bit farther out, but it's a start.
Mickey and Minnie
Feynman and Plank
Cheyenne & Jackson
I'm a Cheyennetologist.
And a Scorpio ruled by Pluto.
Make it a planet again and ill help name the moons .
Well spoken, Daniel. Here. Here.
Persephone, Pluto's wife, and Cerberus, his dog. A god's best friend is his dog, too, is it not?
Donald and Daisy
Christopher Dorner
JFK and RFK
Barack and Michelle.
Malia and Sasha are better.
Hunahpu and Xbalanque!
Narcissus and Cypress, Pluto's sacred plants.
How can these be moons if Pluto is not a planet. Besides being the name of Earths only natural sattelite, the definition of moon is "a natural sattelite of a planet." Just curious
Amen brother
flea and ear mite…what else would Pluto have?
Rhianna & Chris!
Diapente, Triton,
I'd say Pix & Fix
Alderon and tattoine
Juno and Apollo as they will soon be abiding with Pluto.
Micky and Minnie. No contest>
unicorn and saphira
harpocrates
hesperus
Should name them Malia and Sasha.
“Frodo” and “Sam” … Side by side, both took journey from the outskirts towards middle Earth. Small and easily dismissed they first appeared yet grand and tenacious they then revealed.
ca-ka moon
Eurydice and Orpheus!
Primus & Iacon.
They might be asteroids mistaken for moons and pluto is not a planet as previously thought how it has moons now. Can it be moons exist on their own without a planet?
I think we should hold out until they make Pluto a planet again!
RENE & ESME, from the Twilight Breaking Dawn series The names of the two mothers in the story.
uto and luto
Ummim and Thumim
STYX and CERBERUS
Hades and Persephone
"sasikuttan" , "ittoop"
I am going to have to go with Rupert for one of them. In honor of Tricia McMillan's first visit there. When she hung out with the aliens who were marooned there and owing to an odd set of circumstances was only able to achieve photographic evidence which looked almost exactly not quite like someone had spent ten minutes chopping it together in Photoshop; not to mention the deeper lesson of when and when not to go back for your purse… Oh yes, I don't think we could honestly face ourselves if we awoke on the day following not having reached out to the small planetoid that finally takes us all out… bringing the sausage like entity that is the Earth in all of its probability planes to its final and infinite destruction. Read the books… HH2G
kaoss1340
Zuse and athena
Athena is his little girl
Osiris & Isis
Zinayda and Victor