Post by Steve Rogers on Feb 13, 2013 22:02:36 GMT -5
Back in the 1980’s, a now-defunct magazine called Science Digest held a contest to name Planet X — the still-undiscovered world that astronomers believed might lie out beyond Pluto. One of the best entries, sent in by a school child: Goofy, suggested on the theory that one planet named after a Disney cartoon dog deserved another. (Another suggestion, Plutus, lacked a certain originality.)
Fortunately, the magazine’s choice had no official weight, and in the end, astronomers abandoned their idea of a Planet X altogether. In 2006, Pluto itself, as we know, was demoted to the status of “dwarf planet” (a move that had been in the works for 50 years, as this vintage Time story illustrates). But while poor Pluto has lost some status in the overall rankings, it keeps moving up in the “Who Has the Most Moons” list. Last July, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted a new one, bringing Pluto’s tally up to five — which is two more than Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars have, combined.
Three of Pluto’s moons have been named (they’re Charon, Nix and Hydra). But two remain nameless— they’re simply known as P4 and P5 — and now the SETI Institute is sponsoring a contest to remedy that situation. Anyone who goes to plutorocks.seti.org can either pick from a list of names suggested by the moons’ discoverers or write in entirely different suggestions.
You can suggest names for these two moons, or vote for the ones people have suggested. Voting end February 25.
Fortunately, the magazine’s choice had no official weight, and in the end, astronomers abandoned their idea of a Planet X altogether. In 2006, Pluto itself, as we know, was demoted to the status of “dwarf planet” (a move that had been in the works for 50 years, as this vintage Time story illustrates). But while poor Pluto has lost some status in the overall rankings, it keeps moving up in the “Who Has the Most Moons” list. Last July, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted a new one, bringing Pluto’s tally up to five — which is two more than Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars have, combined.
Three of Pluto’s moons have been named (they’re Charon, Nix and Hydra). But two remain nameless— they’re simply known as P4 and P5 — and now the SETI Institute is sponsoring a contest to remedy that situation. Anyone who goes to plutorocks.seti.org can either pick from a list of names suggested by the moons’ discoverers or write in entirely different suggestions.
You can suggest names for these two moons, or vote for the ones people have suggested. Voting end February 25.
