Pluto's Tiny Twin Moons Named

[quaoar]

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/06/22/plutomoon_spa.html?category=space&guid=20060622101530

June 22, 2006 — Born long ago but undiscovered until last year, two tiny moons of Pluto this week received their names, Nix and Hydra.

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At the top were Nix — originally spelled Nyx after the goddess of the night and mother of Charon, and Hydra, a mythological nine-headed beast that guards the entrance to Pluto's realm.

IAU changed the spelling to Nix to avoid confusion with an asteroid named Nyx.

Other than that they are small, cold and far away, not much is known about Nix and Hydra, which orbit their mother planet at about 49,000 kilometers (30,447 miles) and 65,000 kilometers (40,389 miles) away, respectively.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

1. Should have been Micky and Minnie to keep the Disney theme alive.

[Hand]

2. How about Spunk and Moxie? nt

:rofl:

[MikeNearMcChord]

3. It could've been worse, they could've named it

Barbara and Jenna, to save the budget.B-)

[NNadir]

4. It's a point. These bodies are associated with darkness.