Astronomers unveil contest to name Pluto's moons [View all]
Source: USA Today
Astronomers unveil contest to name Pluto's moons
Dan Vergano, USA TODAY 1:47p.m. EST February 11, 2013
Charon, Nix and Hydra have company as Pluto's moons, and astronomers want you to help give their discoveries their official names.
Discovered in the last two years, the two small moons of Pluto are now dubbed "P4" and "P5." The discovery team led by Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., which has the naming rights, announced on Monday that they have opened a contest for public voting on the names.
Pluto, the king of the underworld in Greek mythology, has moons with similarly dire names and the contest options include Orpheus, Cerberus and others that come from the same ancient stories of Hades. There's even a write-in option for those who are fans of some more obscure denizens of the underworld and might want them recognized. "The Greeks were great storytellers, and they have given us a colorful cast of characters to work with," said Showalter, in a statement.
Anyone wanting to learn a little more about these mythic figures and cast a vote for two of them as names for the new moons can visit a SETI website, http://www.plutorocks.com/.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2013/02/11/name-pluto-moons-contest/1909619/
= new reply since forum marked as read
