spacetoday.net: Pluto moons receive names

Posted: Wed, Jul 3, 2013, 8:17 AM ET (1217 GMT)
Pluto P5 moon in July 2012 (STScI)

Two recently discovered moons of Pluto formally received names on Tuesday, although the top vote-getter in a recent poll was not used. The moons, previously known as P4 and P5 and discovered in 2011 and 2012, respectively, are now known as Kerberos and Styx. The names follow the IAU practice of naming Pluto's moons after Greek and Roman mythology of the underworld. Those names came in second and third in an online poll last year to suggest names for the moons. The name receiving the most votes was a write-in suggestion, Vulcan, selected by fans of Star Trek. The IAU rejected Vulcan, however, since it wasn't consistent with its naming scheme and to avoid confusion with a hypothetical inner planet also dubbed Vulcan as well as a class of asteroids.