What To Name Pluto’s New Moon
In these two images from the Hubble Space Telescope, Pluto's new moon, P4, can be seen to move around the dwarf planet (Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Showalter (SETI Institute))
Pluto has a fourth moon, scientists announced last week. They used images from the Hubble Space Telescope to find P4, the smallest of Pluto’s satellites, estimated to be between only 8 and 21 miles in diameter. It orbits between Nix and Hydra, which circle Pluto on the outside of Charon’s path.
P4, however, is just a temporary name for the new moon. And while there are many suggestions for a permanent name, I can say that it definitely won’t be Mickey, Donald or Goofy. That’s because there are strict naming conventions for astronomical bodies. When it comes to our solar system, we’re stuck with Greek mythology and each planet (or dwarf planet, as in this case) has its own set of stories to choose names from.
