"Pluto's newly found moons named Nix, Hydra" - AP
From the AP:I'm firmly in the "pluto is not a planet" camp myself.LOS ANGELES - Meet the newest kids in the solar system: Nix and Hydra [picture faintly at left]. 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.
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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.
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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. [More...]


































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