Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Pluto's Two Small Moons Christened Nix and Hydra

This is topic Pluto's Two Small Moons Christened Nix and Hydra in forum Officers' Lounge at Flare Sci-Fi Forums.

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Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=20163

quote:
In mythology, Nix is the goddess of darkness and night, befitting a satellite orbiting distant Pluto, the god of the underworld. Nix is also the mother of Charon, relevant to the giant impact believed to have created Pluto's three satellites, indicating Charon was borne of the material from which Nix formed. Hydra is the terrifying monster with the body of a serpent and nine heads, befitting the outermost moon of Pluto, the ninth planet in the solar system.

B.J.

Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :

It's a damn sight better than "Xena" and "Gabrielle"... [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :

Nix?! Oh, he'll be insufferable now. . .

Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :

quote:
Originally posted by MinutiaeMan:
It's a damn sight better than "Xena" and "Gabrielle"...

Fuck yeah.

Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :

quote:
Originally posted by MinutiaeMan:
It's a damn sight better than "Xena" and "Gabrielle"...

"Xena" and "Gabrielle" are the informal names used for 2003 UB₃₁₃ and its moon, and most newly-discovered astronomical objects get cutesy nicknames like those before they get formal names. They should get formal names this September, when the International Astronomical Union finally gets around to deciding if 2003 UB₃₁₃ is a planet or not.

Anyway, Nix and Hydra for Pluto's new moons? I like.

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

I'm moving today, and I probably won't have Internet at my new place for a week or so. But, before I go, I just want to say : excellent naming choices. (Certainly better than a moon named "Kelly", at any rate.)

Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :

Fortunately they were not named Tim and Nix.

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

Nix and Hydra - nice!

*cough* I don't mind Xena and Gabrielle! [Smile]

Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :

Hey, there was a battlecruiser HMS Kelly. It sank. Was sunk, that is, due to the uselessness of its commander (Mountbatten) and the untimely intervention of the Luftwaffe. I bet one of the Kraut pilots was called Nix, too.

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

(Public service announcement : Just so you know, "Nix" is an English name.)