The newest Pluto's moons has been given the name now

Kerberos and Styx has become the official name for the fourth and fifth of Pluto's moon. On Tuesday, July 2, 2013, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced the new name to replace the name of the P4 and P5.

The names of Kerberos and Styx is supported by the voters in a popular contest. The contest was held that the public can propose a name for the two newly moons which were circling the dwarf planet Pluto.

The International Astronomical Union has approved the name Kerberos for the Pluto's moon formerly known as P4, and Styx for P5. Vulcan, a popular favorite, was passed up in part because the name has already been used in astronomy, to refer to a hypothetical planet inside Mercury's orbit. (Picture from: http://www.nbcnews.com/)

The two new moons were discovered in 2011 and 2012 through the Pluto system monitoring by the NASA/ESA using the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3. The discovery increases the number of moons of Pluto into five.

Kerberos is located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, the two Pluto's moon that are larger in size and are found by Hubble in 2005. Styx is between Charon (the largest moon of Pluto as well as the nearest) and Nix. Kerberos estimated diameter of 13-34 kilometers, while Styx has a form that is not uniform, with a diameter of 10-25 kilometers.

IAU act as arbitrator and the parties have the right to decide, in the naming process of celestial objects. In decision-making, IAU comments and supported by astronomers active in various fields. The agency must ensure that the proposed name acceptable to all languages ​​and cultures to support research cooperation worldwide and avoid mistakes.

After discovering the two moons of Pluto, the leader of researcher team, Mark Showalter from the SETI Institute, decided to engage the public in voting to propose names for P4 and P5. To be consistent with the other Pluto satellites name, so the name of new moons should be taken from classical mythology. Styx is the name of the goddess who controlled the natural river bottom. Cerberus or Kerberos, in Greek, is a many-headed dog that guarded the entrance to the realm of the dead. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | SCIENCEDAILY | TJANDRA DEWI | KORAN TEMPO 4278]
Note: This blog can be accessed via your smart phone.