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Science & Technology
2 more moons for Pluto
2006-02-23
Pluto, the most distant recognised planet of the Solar System, has two tiny satellites in addition to Charon, the moon which was discovered in 1978. US astronomers used the orbiting Hubble telescope to spot the moonlets, which have been labelled S/2005 P1 and and S/2005 P2 until formal names are approved after the International Astronomical Union (IAU) vets the find. P1 and P2 appear to measure between 48 kilometers and 165 kms across and take 38 and 25 days respectively to orbit Pluto, according to their paper, published on Thursday in Nature, the weekly British science journal. Pluto, discovered in 1930 by the American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, is the outermost of the acknowledged planets, although a new contender for that title emerged last year in the form of an object called 2003 UB313.
"Look, honey! All the moons are out tonight!"
"Goddamn! It's cold! What's the thermometer say?"
"340 below zero."
"Let's go inside."
Posted by:Fred

#16   I remember the Larry Niven story that suggested that any planets discovered past Pluto's orbit be named Caïna, Antenora, Ptolomea, and Judecca, after the rings of the Ninth Circle of Dante's Hell. Somehow, the names astronomers use for the recently discovered Trans-Plutonian bodies seem a lot less interesting.

One has to hand it to Niven as he was willing to re-write Dante with the good doctor

http://www.marypat.org/stuff/mywords/dante.html
Posted by: Cheaderhead   2006-02-23 23:41  

#15  I say we give them nice Muslim names.
Posted by: IAU member since 1951   2006-02-23 22:59  

#14  I remember the Larry Niven story that suggested that any planets discovered past Pluto's orbit be named Caïna, Antenora, Ptolomea, and Judecca, after the rings of the Ninth Circle of Dante's Hell. Somehow, the names astronomers use for the recently discovered Trans-Plutonian bodies seem a lot less interesting.

Really, does anyone like “Sedna” or “Quaoar”? Or, darn it, “Xena”, “Gabrielle”, or knock-off “Buffy”?

And, Ogeretla, are you in the "Pluto isn't a planet" camp?
Posted by: Eric Jablow   2006-02-23 21:21  

#13  Two more moons. Good! One for the heathens to be resettled from Gaza, and the other for the heathens exiting Judea and Samaria...
Posted by: borgboy   2006-02-23 20:21  

#12  Ba, a planet's "day" is determined by its rotational speed, not by how often the moons circumnavigate the planet.
Posted by: Marvin the Martian   2006-02-23 15:26  

#11  PLUTO

O where O where has my little rock gone?
O where O where can it be?
Far away in space,
In a very cold place!
A planet no longer you see...
Posted by: Ogeretla 2006   2006-02-23 12:25  

#10  BTW, in all reality, wouldn't Pluto's "days" be different from earth? In that, I mean, scientifically, their year (time to loop the sun) would be different, so wouldn't its "day" be different (time for the moon to circulate the planet)? Or, because there's now 3 moons, Pluto doesn't have a standard day?
Posted by: BA   2006-02-23 12:12  

#9  Hillary and Nancy (Pelosi)? Two coldest "moons" that we'd know of in our SS.
Posted by: BA   2006-02-23 12:10  

#8  "Goofy" and "Minnie"
Posted by: Mike   2006-02-23 11:39  

#7  I propose "Huey" and "Dewey"
Posted by: mojo   2006-02-23 10:41  

#6  Pluto is such a Mickey Mouse planet, no one would ever go there.
Posted by: Marvin the Martian   2006-02-23 09:40  

#5   an object called 2003 UB313

Bah. I'd rather see something like "Uphong Hulpanger3752." Why not lend them your name generator?
Posted by: Jackal   2006-02-23 08:34  

#4  Heh, replied to the first comment, but it applies to the one Joseph slipped in just before mine, as well!
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-02-23 02:19  

#3  With strong emphasis on "speculation" and "Hypothetical".
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-02-23 02:12  

#2  Methinks it means no PLANET X approaching until 2009 or after!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2006-02-23 02:12  

#1  The two new moons seem to be in an almost-resonance with Charon; the speculation being reported is that they were all formed from the debris of the same hypothetical collision that may have formed Charon.
Posted by: Phil   2006-02-23 00:04  

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