Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Xena, the Warrior Princess (and Gabrielle)

The dwarf planet (or trans-Neptunian or Kuiper belt object) now called 'Eris' has a moon, called 'Dysnomia.'
Mike Brown - the discoverer -  and other researchers referred colloquially to the two as 'Xena' and 'Gabrielle', after Lucy Lawless' TV character and her sidekick . Since these didn't follow the international naming conventions and were thus likely to not be approved, they proposed 'Eris' and 'Dysnomia': a minor Greek god and her daughter, thus following the accepted protocols.
'Dysnomia' -- means "Lawlessness"  :)

Eris (in the center) ande Dysnomia (on the left) taken by the Hubble Space Telecople.

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