spacetoday.net: Names assigned to new Pluto moons

Posted: Fri, Jun 23, 2006, 7:37 AM ET (1137 GMT)
Pluto moons illustration (STScI)

Two small moons found last year around the planet Pluto were assigned permanent names this week. The moons, designated S/2005 P 1 and S/2005 P 2 after their discovery last year, are now known as Hydra and Nix, respectively. Hydra is named after the mythical monster with nine heads (Pluto is the ninth planet), while Nix (a derivation of Nyx, a name already assigned to an asteroid) is the Greek goddess of darkness and night, and the mother Charon, a name previously assigned to Pluto's other, and largest, moon. The names were approved by the International Astronomical Union. The first letters of the two moons, "N" and "H", are also the initials of New Horizons, the NASA mission launched earlier this year that will be the first spacecraft to visit the planet.