Good names for new planetary-type bodies
Jul. 15th, 2015 01:10 pmYou know, when it was found, they called it "X" for a while, then gave it the unofficial designation "Xena", and I was hoping that that would be the one that stuck.
But in the end, I'm really happy with how we named our farthest-yet-discovered dwarf planet "Eris". Because the discovery of Eris was what started the IAU questioning what "planet" meant, and whether Pluto actually met the definition.
All the strife and discord about the "demotion" of Pluto is entirely the doing of Eris.
Good name, yeah? Who wants to bet that, when we finally get a good image of it, it's going to be gold-ish in color and vaguely apple-shaped?
But in the end, I'm really happy with how we named our farthest-yet-discovered dwarf planet "Eris". Because the discovery of Eris was what started the IAU questioning what "planet" meant, and whether Pluto actually met the definition.
All the strife and discord about the "demotion" of Pluto is entirely the doing of Eris.
Good name, yeah? Who wants to bet that, when we finally get a good image of it, it's going to be gold-ish in color and vaguely apple-shaped?