Monday, February 25, 2013
The name Vulcan was nominated by William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in the original "Star Trek" series.
Pluto's most recently discovered moons could be named Vulcan and Cerberus — the two names that received the most votes in a contest that closed Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 — but there's no guarantee, an NBC News post says. The moons' discovery teams, led by Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in California, have naming rights for the two moons, and the team originally announced Monday, Feb. 11, that it had opened a contest for public voting on the names. Voters were asked to choose between 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. But after William …
Monday, February 11, 2013
You can vote for one of 12 proposed names or complete a write-in form to have a name added to the list.
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-…
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The new moon, or satellite, could be shrapnel from a huge cosmic collision between Pluto and another larger object.
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012
For a dwarf planet, Pluto has a lot going on around it. Scientists announced today the discovery of a fifth moon around Pluto, which was once considered the ninth planet in our solar system. The moon was spotted by researchers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The new moon joins P4, which was found last year, and Nix and Hydra, which were discovered in 2005. According to Space.com, the dwarf planet's other known moon, Charon, was discovered in 1978. Space.com also offers five fun facts about the new moon, including its current name, its shape, its distance from Pluto, what it might be and why it might have scientists slightly worried. Subscribe to Barrow Patch’s newsletters, follow us on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook.
Brian Crawford
8:10 pm on Wednesday, July 11, 2012
I miss you Pluto. You'll always be a planet to me. more ›