Welcome to the Solar System...

[Leader Desslock]

Our newly christened members of the solar family are: Nix and Hydra.

Pluto's newly found moons named Nix, Hydra

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.

The duo had been known by the tongue-twisting names S/2005 P 2 and S/2005 P 1. Earlier this year, the moons' discoverers, led by Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., submitted their choices to the IAU.

The names, with roots in Greek mythology, were selected in part because their first letters, "N" and "H," were a tribute to the New Horizons spacecraft, Stern said Wednesday.

New Horizons blasted off earlier this year on a nine-year mission to study Pluto, the last unexplored planet in the solar system. Stern is the mission's principal investigator.

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.

Stern said he wasn't disappointed by the spelling change because the pronunciation and significance of the names were still intact.

"The joke was that they nixed Nyx," Stern said.

This summer, the IAU will debate whether Pluto should remain a planet. The discovery of an icy object slightly larger than Pluto in the Kuiper Belt last year reinvigorated the argument over whether to demote Pluto or add other planets.

Naturally, fans of the New York Knicks are excited by the news...

[Evil_Koala]

Damnit. Now I have to change my Space Book...Why does history keep changing? T_T

[EmberAlchemist0]

This doesn't surprise me that Pluto has two new moons. Our solar system constantly grows right? It was only a matter of time. And I don't think they should remove Pluto as a planet just because they made a new discovery...heck just add new planets.

[Evil_Koala]

But...Isn't Pluto just a huge *** asteroid? Geez...Why is everything getting more complicated? Can't it all just stay the same? But anyway...Isn't there a ****ing asteroid field behind Pluto? So why don't we just say HEY! THOSE ARE ALL PLUTO'S MOONS! KICKASS!

[Magami No ER]

Naturally, fans of the New York Knicks are excited by the news...
<[whisper]Their only good news this year, it would appear >.>;..../whisper]>

Congrats Pluto, you got yer own satilites now, validated now by the blue planet people.

[MonkeyBoy0314]

I say kudos to Pluto, man! Must be hard making new friends, having such a cold personality and all :P

[CrossboneGundam]

As long as they're not naming them after shabby old syndicated fantasy action shows from the '90s, I'm fine.

[GreatNekoKoneko]

...when will Gamilon have its turn? i swear, these earthlings...

[Evil_Koala]

As long as they're not naming them after shabby old syndicated fantasy action shows from the '90s, I'm fine.

Since when do they name moons? :huh:

[CrossboneGundam]

Since when do they name moons? :huh:

What? How is that relevant to what I said?

And since people looked into telescopes and saw that Mars had some and Jupiter has a whole bunch of them.

[Evil_Koala]

What? How is that relevant to what I said?

As long as they're not naming them after shabby old syndicated fantasy action shows from the '90s, I'm fine.

o_o

I didn't know they named moons...If they do then why the Hell does our moon have a ****** name. THE MOON. Same for our sun. THE SUN.

[The Million Dollar Prons]

As long as they're not naming them after shabby old syndicated fantasy action shows from the '90s, I'm fine.

"Hangin With Mr. Cooper," would be a great name for a planet.

[Neo0tak0n]

o_o

I didn't know they named moons...If they do then why the Hell does our moon have a ****** name. THE MOON. Same for our sun. THE SUN.

Because our moon is the moon, and our sun is the sun.

But our moon and sun do have other names.

[Nami]

Nix and Nyx? It might not be confusing when it's read. However, it still confusing to remember that any how. Especially if it's only for the conversation subject, withut explaining their differebce. >.<

[Evil_Koala]

Because our moon is the moon, and our sun is the sun.

But our moon and sun do have other names.

Now that's just ignorant.

[Ikari Warrior]

Our Moon's name is Luna, and our Sun's name is Sol. Their names vary, depending upon various mythologies you turn to.

[Evil_Koala]

Our Moon's name is Luna, and our Sun's name is Sol. Their names vary, depending upon various mythologies you turn to.

But isn't Sol Mexican for Sun and Luna...Mexican for Moon? o_o

[CrossboneGundam]

o_o

I didn't know they named moons...If they do then why the Hell does our moon have a ****** name. THE MOON. Same for our sun. THE SUN.

Because people named them before anyone was aware of the fact that the sun is one of countless stars and the moon one of many planetary satellites in the universe.

And there is no language called "Mexican." I believe you're thinking of Spanish a language of Latin origin, which developed on the Iberian peninsula in Europe, which is now home to the countries of Spain and Portugal.

[Ikari Warrior]

But isn't Sol Mexican for Sun and Luna...Mexican for Moon? o_o
no, they're Roman (Latin). It's why you have words like "SOLar" system or "LUNAr" eclipse.

[Evil_Koala]

:lol: I'm just messin' with y'all. At first I didn't remember them naming moons but then I was like...Oh yeah, oh well, too lazy to edit post. @_@

[CrossboneGundam]

no, they're Roman (Latin). It's why you have words like "SOLar" system or "LUNAr" eclipse.

It's just Latin. No parentheses, no "Roman."

Anyway, I think Pluto's planetary status should be revoked simply because I heard about the disgruntled backlash from elementary school students when the idea was first made public, and I enjoy the idea of their Pluto-related hopes and dreams being crushed, leading them to curse the astronomers of the world for the rest of their lives.

[Scandiadream]

I'm glad the names are consistent with the rest of the planetary and satellite names.

[Ikari Warrior]

It's just Latin. No parentheses, no "Roman."

Sol is the Roman god of the sun, Luna is the Roman goddess of the moon. I probably should have said they're Latin (Roman) instead of vice-versa. It may be Latin, but they are Roman names :)

[Evil_Koala]

Rome sucks. They killed Sparticus. And that Jewish dude...And the African...:'( Damn them.

ANYWAY! They should name the moons...Master Chief and...Blacksmith Omlette! :O

[CrossboneGundam]

Sol is the Roman god of the sun, Luna is the Roman goddess of the moon. I probably should have said they're Latin (Roman) instead of vice-versa. It may be Latin, but they are Roman names :)
I thought you were just talking about the linguistics, but anyway...
Apollo and Diana are the Roman god and goddess of the sun and moon.

[Ikari Warrior]

*smacks forehead* oh yeah, you're right.

[Undrave]

But...Isn't Pluto just a huge *** asteroid? Geez...Why is everything getting more complicated? Can't it all just stay the same? But anyway...Isn't there a ****ing asteroid field behind Pluto? So why don't we just say HEY! THOSE ARE ALL PLUTO'S MOONS! KICKASS!

:lol: change is the nature of life and the universe itself my friend. Nothing ever stays the same, NOTHING.

'You never swim in the same river twice'.

[Undrave]

And as for 'The Sun' usually in Sci-fi when dealing with alien they refer to it as 'Sol' :D

[Evil_Koala]

:lol: change is the nature of life and the universe itself my friend. Nothing ever stays the same, NOTHING.

'You never swim in the same river twice'.

Change sucks.

What the Hell are you talking about? I swim in the same river all the time. Why would I go to a different river if the one I found is just fine?

[VSh]

They almost decided (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=325&objectid=10396493)

The three new planets are Charon, once considered a moon of Pluto but now described as its double planet; Ceres, formerly known as an asteroid or minor planet; and UB313, an object that has yet to be given a formal name (although it has been nicknamed Xena), and which was only identified last year.

There are now eight "classical" planets, three "plutons", those planets that are similar in size to Pluto withextremely wide solar orbits, and the asteroid-like Ceres.

Experts sitting on IAU's planet definition committee - composed of astronomers, historians and writers - concluded that in future a planet should be defined as a celestial body that is big enough for its gravity field to form a near-spherical shape.

The object must also be in orbit around the Sun - or another star - but not as a satellite of another planet, which rules out the Moon and the larger moons of other planets.

But
The new definition of a planet means that there are another dozen or two dozen other known objects in the solar system that may one day be included in the planetary club.

The seven-member definition committee convened in Paris in late June and early July, and its recommendations will now go to the IAU's general assembly which will vote on the resolution as its meeting in Prague this week.

[Meson]

That's some major announcement. It changes just abut everything

And it is four (4!) plutons.

[Holy Knight]

That's some major announcement. It changes just abut everything

And it is four (4!) plutons.

I'd be interested to know just how much of a change this would have in an academical world. On the civilian level, nothing changes except that there are a few new chunks of rock to call "planet" out there.

However, astronomicaly and astrophysicaly speaking, would you know the level of change this brings about?

[Meson]

They say we might end up with 53 planets, once the dust settles. And that is from what we know. There is still a lot of space in this system of ours, and that is just the beginning.

[Rain]

We would probably have hundreds (if not more) of planets if we go by that new definition, wouldn't we?

I agree with Meson that this is just the beginning - a stepping stone in getting to know more about our Solar System.