Pluto moons get mythical new names

The recently discovered fourth and fifth moons of Pluto now have official names: Kerberos and Styx.

(from NASA)

The names - referring to a three-headed dog and a river separating the living from the dead, ranked second and third in an international public vote.

The two moons, formerly known simply as P4 and P5, were only discovered in July 2011 and July 2012, respectively. Both were spotted by a team using the Hubble space telescope, led by Mark Showalter, senior scientist at the Seti Institute.

Vulcan was a suggestion made by William Shatner of the television show Star Trek - the name of the home planet of character Mr Spock. Although it was a clear winner among the votes, the IAU opted not to use it, on the grounds that it has been used elsewhere in astronomy and not sufficiently associated in mythology with Pluto, the ruler of the underworld.