Help Name Pluto's Moons

It's time to give Pluto's newly-discovered moons, thus far referred to as P4 and P5, permanent names, according to the team that discovered the moons in 2011 and 2012. 

Led by Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in California, the discovery team has naming rights for the two moons, and the team announced Monday, Feb. 11, that it has opened a contest for public voting on the names.

"We will take your votes and suggestions into consideration when we propose the names for P4 and P5 to the international astronomical community," the post announcing the contest reads. 

Voters can select from one of 12 proposed names based on Greek and Roman mythology related to ancient tales about Hades and the Underworld, as Pluto, and its three previously-discovered moons — Charon, Nix and Hydra — have traditionally been named in this manner. 

The proposed names for the two moons, and background information on the names, as provided by the discovery team, are: 

1. Acheron — One of the five rivers of the underworld, symbolizing pain. 
2. Alecto — One of the furies, hideous snake-haired monsters who were servants of Hades. It was the job of Alecto to punish mortals for their crimes of anger. 
3. Cerberus — The three-headed dog who guards the gates to the underworld, preventing the the dead from escaping. 
4. Erebus — A primordial god and the personification of darkness. With Nyx, he fathered many children including Hypnos and Styx. 
5. Eurydice — The wife of Orpheus, for whom he entered the underworld. During their journey home, Orpheus violated his agreement with Persephone not to look back, and Eurydice was lost forever. 
6. Hercules — The heroic demigod who slew the Hydra, entered the underworld and who also carried Cerberus back, one of very few who ever returned from the underworld. 
7. Hypnos — A son of Nyx and the personification of sleep. 
8. Lethe — One of the five rivers of the underworld, symbolizing oblivion, which flows through the cave of Hypnos and merges with the river Styx. 
9. Obol — The coin paid to Charon in order to obtain passage across the river Styx. 
10. Orpheus — A gifted musician who entered the underworld to retrieve his wife Eurydice and charmed Hades and Persephone with his music to became the only mortal ever to return from the underworld. 
11. Persephone — A goddess kidnapped by Hades to become the queen of the underworld who symbolizes vegetation and rebirth. 
12. Styx — The river that separates Earth from the underworld. The name also refers to the goddess of the river Styx, daughter of Nyx and Erebus.

Click here to cast your vote now. Not a fan of any of the 12 proposed names? You can submit a write-in form with another suggestion. 

Voting ends at noon Monday, February 25th, 2013. 

You might also be interested in reading: 

• Scientists Announce Discovery of Fifth Moon around Dwarf Planet Pluto
• Asteroid the Size of Cruise Ship to Safely Bypass Earth — Let's Heave a Collective Sigh of Relief
• Mining Asteroids for Gold — A Promising Mission or a Potential 'Black Hole'?
• NASA's Curiosity Rover Picks Up No Signs of Microbial Life on Mars ... Yet?
• Do You Believe in UFOs?

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