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The next flyby target of the New Horizons mission (the first spacecraft to visit Pluto) is 2014 MU69. NASA is asking the public to help name it. The name(s) are unlikely to be submitted to the International Astronomical Union before the flyby on January 1, 2019, because scientists are still unsure if 2014 MU69 consists of one or more objects.
To prevent a Boaty McBoatface redux, the New Horizons team is allowing you to pick from a number of options or submit your own name for consideration by December 1st. The poll is only to gauge support; they will decide which name(s) to submit to the IAU (which could also reject the name(s)). And the binary (trinary?) status of 2014 MU69 is likely to affect the name(s) chosen. The names currently being considered are:
- Año Nuevo ("New Year" in Spanish)
- Camalor (fictional city in the Kuiper Belt)
- Chomolungma, Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest in Tibet and Nepal)
- Kibo, Mawenzi, Shira (peaks of Mt. Kilimanjaro)
- Mjölnir (Thor's hammer)
- Pangu (from Chinese mythology, emerged from yin and yang)
- Peanut, Almond, Cashew (shapes for small bodies)
- Pluck & Persistence (traits of New Horizons)
- Sagittarius (constellation behind MU69/mythical centaur)
- Uluru (Ayers Rock, largest rock on Earth, an "island mountain")
- Z'ha'dum (fictional planet at the edge of the galaxy)
Also at CNET.
Previously: Occultations of New Horizons' Next Target (2014 MU69) Observed
New Horizons Target 2014 MU69 May be a "Contact Binary"
New Horizons Flyby Plan Finalized; Pluto Features Named
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @08:48AM (2 children)
It was a long time ago now that I watched B5 but wasn't Z'ha'dum destroyed? So it might not be an entirely suitable name. Plus it wasn't really tiny, but then perhaps as far as astronomical things go it might all be relative.
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Thursday November 09 2017, @09:16AM (1 child)
Nah, Sheridan dropped a White Star loaded with a pair of fusion bombs right on top of himself and the Shadow capital but that wouldn't destroy a planet, not one that appeared to have close to 1G gravity. And from the ruined look of the surface I doubt he was even the first one to nuke those guys.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2017, @01:26PM
If I recall correctly the shadows booby trapped the planet, they go back after the defeat and see a fleet of shadow allies fleeing the planet which then explodes