“Vulcan” and “Cerberus” win the poll to name Pluto’s two unnamed moons.
“Vulcan” and “Cerberus” win the poll to name Pluto’s two unnamed moons. Key quote:
Vulcan was a late addition to the Pluto moon name contenders, and pulled into the lead after Shatner, building on his Capt. James T. Kirk persona, plugged the name on Twitter. Vulcan, the home planet of Kirk’s alien-human hybrid first officer Spock, is not just a fictional world in the Star Trek universe. It is also the name of the god of fire in Roman mythology, and officials at SETI added the sci-fi favorite to the ballot for that reason.
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“Vulcan” and “Cerberus” win the poll to name Pluto’s two unnamed moons. Key quote:
Vulcan was a late addition to the Pluto moon name contenders, and pulled into the lead after Shatner, building on his Capt. James T. Kirk persona, plugged the name on Twitter. Vulcan, the home planet of Kirk’s alien-human hybrid first officer Spock, is not just a fictional world in the Star Trek universe. It is also the name of the god of fire in Roman mythology, and officials at SETI added the sci-fi favorite to the ballot for that reason.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Bad choice, I gotta feel. Cerebrus I can live with == it was a dog, not a hugely important character in classical myths IIRC. Vulan, however, was one of the major Roman gods — the lame blacksmith god, creator of volcanos, patron saint of alchemists, husband to Venus, etc. He deserves to name a major planet — and what will we do now if we find a habitable world at 40 Eridani A?
Just what we always do call it New Vulcan.
I totally agree with Mike on this one.
My two proposals didn’t get close to enough vote though.
Hypnos and Thanatos, twin brothers and sons of Nix. Nix is already a moon of Pluto.
I was hoping they would save the name Vulcan for the first positively habitable planet discovered outside out solar system. Just like the Vulcans in Star Trek were the first known to Earth.
Since the reigning theme of Pluto’s system is the Underworld, is Vulcan closely associated enough to qualify? Sure, one of his departments is volcanoes, but it seems like a stretch. The IAU still has to approve the final choice of names (the on-line poll isn’t binding and obviously subject to special-interest ballot-box stuffing), and I suspect Vulcan won’t make the cut. Too important a god for a tiny moon, wrong end of the solar system, not associated with Pluto/Hades et al.
Myself, I’d like to see Cerberus and Styx. Part of the reason is that in 1941, science-fiction writer Edmond Hamilton wrote a pulp series called CAPTAIN FUTURE in which he depicted Pluto as having three moons: Charon, Cerberus, and Styx. This was quite a leap of the imagination because Pluto wasn’t known to have any moons at all until 1978, and then the first Plutonian moon to be discovered was named Charon (reportedly because it resembled the name of the discoverer’s wife as well as being mythologically correct). It isn’t a complete coincidence because Hamilton realized that any Plutonian moons would likely be named after mythological characters associated with Hades, but it’s interesting to see how right he was after all. It’d be really great to see Hamilton go three for three with his long-ago prediction of names for Plutonian moons he didn’t know even existed!
Mr. Decker: I wish I had money or a framed certificate to hand out, because you win the prize for the wonderfully erudite comment on a website that I’ve seen in several years. I’m typing this with my mouth wide open in shock. Speaking as an old Edmond Hamilton fan, thank you!
Why bother naming moons of Pluto anymore? If it isn’t a planet, what’s the point?