Pluto's New Moons Named Nix, Hydra
View at National Geographic
Our solar system has two new named bodies: Nix and Hydra.
The names were approved last week by the International Astronomical Union, the organization charged with keeping tabs of astronomical nomenclature.
Previously called S/2005 P 2 and S/2005 P 1, the two moons were discovered a year ago in orbit around Pluto.
The discovery of the new bodies was announced on October 31.
'They're the 'Halloween moons' of Pluto,' said Alan Stern, a planetary astronomer with the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, whose team made the find.
Stern's team picked the names Nix and Hydra—both figures in Greek mythology—to reflect the underworld theme used in naming objects in the dim reaches of the outer solar system.
But the scientists also wanted them to be special.
The nine members of the discovery team brainstormed about 30 names, Stern said. 'Then we wondered what made sense as a pair.'
They settled on Nix and Hydra because their initials could stand for New Horizons, the space probe now heading for Plu"
Our solar system has two new named bodies: Nix and Hydra.The names were approved last week by the International Astronomical Union, the organization charged with keeping tabs of astronomical nomenclature.
Previously called S/2005 P 2 and S/2005 P 1, the two moons were discovered a year ago in orbit around Pluto.
The discovery of the new bodies was announced on October 31.
'They're the 'Halloween moons' of Pluto,' said Alan Stern, a planetary astronomer with the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, whose team made the find.
Stern's team picked the names Nix and Hydra—both figures in Greek mythology—to reflect the underworld theme used in naming objects in the dim reaches of the outer solar system.
But the scientists also wanted them to be special.
The nine members of the discovery team brainstormed about 30 names, Stern said. 'Then we wondered what made sense as a pair.'
They settled on Nix and Hydra because their initials could stand for New Horizons, the space probe now heading for Plu"
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