Poor little P4 and P5 have been orbiting around the one-time planet Pluto without proper names since they were first discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2011 and 2012. But it’s time for those moons to have names of their own and the scientists who discovered them are asking the public to help choose the names through an online vote at www.plutorocks.com.
Poor little P4 and P5 have been orbiting around the one-time planet Pluto without proper names since they were first discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2011 and 2012. But it’s time for those moons to have names of their own and the scientists who discovered them are asking the public to help choose the names through an online vote at www.plutorocks.com.
There are some stipulations, however. The moons have to be named in accordance with tradition, meaning they should be names from Greek and Roman mythology. The three previously discovered Pluto moons are named Nix (the goddess of the night), Charon (Nix’s son, the boatman who ferried the dead into the underworld) and Hydra (a nine-headed serpent with poisonous blood), so voters may want to keep with the dark and/or evil tradition.
Voters can choose from a list of pre-approved names, or can suggest one of their own. Votes close on Monday, Feb. 25.
The list of suggested names, so far, is:
Acheron
Alecto
Cerberus
Erebus
Eurydice
Hercules
Hypnos
Lethe
Obol
Orpheus
Persephone
Styx