Rrwar! Space hydra!Follow

LOS ANGELES -- Meet the newest kids in the solar system: Nix and Hydra. The pair of moons orbiting Pluto were officially christened last week by the International Astronomical Union, which is in charge of approving celestial names.

Until last year, scientists thought Pluto was accompanied by only one moon, Charon. But the Hubble Space Telescope spotted the two satellites -- more than twice as far away as Charon and many times fainter.
[...]
Nix was originally spelled "Nyx" by Stern's group. Nyx is the Greek goddess of darkness and Hydra is the nine-headed serpent that guarded the underworld. Pluto is the Roman god of the underworld.

But since a near-Earth object was already called Nyx, the IAU decided to tweak the spelling to "Nix" to avoid confusion.

I'd be willing to donate my old Deities & Demigods to the IAU if it'll help.

I still think Pluto is a rogue moon.

Rolfron Zek!

rogue
n.

1. An unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person; a scoundrel or rascal.
2. One who is playfully mischievous; a scamp.
3. A wandering beggar; a vagrant.
4. A vicious and solitary animal, especially an elephant that has separated itself from its herd.
5. An organism, especially a plant, that shows an undesirable variation from a standard.



rouge
n.

1. A red or pink cosmetic for coloring the cheeks or lips.
2. A reddish powder, chiefly ferric oxide, used to polish metals or glass.

Slavic mythology just doesn't have the catchy names. I mean come on, Baba Yaga?

Slavic mythology just doesn't have the catchy names. I mean come on, Baba Yaga?

Planet Tim! Planet Tim!