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Tag Archives: Pluto

Welcome, Styx and Kerberos

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 2 Jul, 2013 by Allen Versfeld31 May, 2016
Pluto and its five moons

Earlier today, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted on names for the two most recently discovered moons of Pluto.  The larger of the two, formerly designated P4 will now be known as Kerberos, while P5 has been named Styx.  The decision was a slight departure from the results predicted by a public poll, because those chosen names were already being used to describe other bodies.  While the results of that poll (Vulcan and Cerberus) were widely reported as definitive, it … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Updates | Tagged Moons, Pluto | Leave a reply

Why is Pluto not a planet?

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 5 Sep, 2011 by Allen Versfeld8 Jul, 2016

In 1930, Clyde W Tombaugh completed the search for Planet X, the outermost planet at the far reaches of the solar system.  This object was named Pluto.  Then, on 24 August 2006, the IAU (International Astronomy Union) formally voted on a new definition of the word ‘Planet’, which excluded Pluto.  For seventy-six years, our solar system had been understood to have nine planets, then suddenly it went back to eight.  The response was furious. Both the astronomical community and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Questions and Answers | Tagged Planet, Pluto, Q&A | Leave a reply
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