Let’s Get This Straight: The New Name for Pluto Moon Is NOT Derived from a Band

Pluto, the former ninth planet of the solar system before being demoted to something less grand, is the focus of much study these days.  Not only is the New Horizons probe going to give us our first close-up view of the place, but astronomers are most interested in Pluto’s five moons.

We’d known about Charon since 1977 and Hydra and Nix since 2005.  But in 2011, two more satellites were found and given the temporary designations of P4 and P5.  That would not do so the International Astronomical Union–the people in charge of naming things Out There–asked the public for help.

Responding to a campaign pushed by William Shatner, the overwhelming vote was to call one of the moons Vulcan.  It seemed to meet the nomenclature requirements set down by the IAU, namely that in the case of Pluto, the name had to involve characters from Greek and Roman mythology.  

The problem was that Vulcan was the god of fire and volcanoes–and it’s too damn cold out there for either.  Besides, Vulcan has already been used in astronomy and he’s really hard to connect to the god Pluto. They’re, like, distant cousins or something.

This week, P4 was given the name “Hydra” after a mythical three-headed dog in Greek mythology while P5 will forevermore be known as “Styx.”

And let’s be VERY clear:  the new name of P5 has nothing to do with the band from Chicago.  In mythology, it’s the river that separates the world of the living from the realm of the dead.

However, as Classic Rock magazine points out, singer (and Canadian) Larry Gowan has confirmed that the band has booked a residency on Styx and it’s almost completely sold out.