Hail Eris!
Sep. 14th, 2006 05:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreThe Lady of Discord finally gets her due! 2003 UB313 has been officially named Eris.
Eris' moon, the former Gabrielle, is now named Dysnomia, the daughter of Eris known as the spirit of lawlessness.
All Hail Eris, All Hail Discordia!
The distant world whose discovery prompted leading astronomers to demote Pluto from the rank of "planet" has now been given its own official name.
Having caused so much consternation in the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the object has been called Eris, after the Greek goddess of discord.
Eris is larger than Pluto, which put scientists in the fix of having to call them both planets - or neither.
Both bodies have now been put in the new classification of "dwarf planets".
Eris' discoverer, Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, told the Associated Press that the name was an obvious choice, calling it "too perfect to resist".
In mythology, Eris caused a quarrel among goddesses that sparked the Trojan War. In real life, Eris also caused strife, forcing scientists to produce a strict definition of the term planet - and that eventually led to Pluto losing the status it had held since its discovery in 1930.
Eris' moon, the former Gabrielle, is now named Dysnomia, the daughter of Eris known as the spirit of lawlessness.
All Hail Eris, All Hail Discordia!
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Date: 14 Sep 2006 21:43 (UTC)Hail Xena. :-)
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Date: 15 Sep 2006 02:32 (UTC)If she couldn't stay Xena
Date: 15 Sep 2006 15:14 (UTC)Re: If she couldn't stay Xena
Date: 15 Sep 2006 18:21 (UTC)Someday explorers will be naming planetary bodies in other systems for pop culture, but I hope that day is still some ways off.
Re: If she couldn't stay Xena
Date: 16 Sep 2006 03:18 (UTC)http://www.dead.net/cavenweb/deadfile/astgarcia.html