Meet Pandia, Eirene and More! 5 Jupiter Moons Get New Names⠀ ⠀ The mighty planet Jupiter has five mo
Meet Pandia, Eirene and More! 5 Jupiter Moons Get New Names⠀ ⠀ The mighty planet Jupiter has five moons with new names suggested by the public: Pandia, Ersa, Eirene, Philophrosyne and Eupheme. The names, which were largely suggested by children, came through a contest run by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the approval of the International Astronomical Union, the official arbitrar of astronomical names. ⠀ ⠀ Traditionally, the IAU assigns a temporary name to newly found objects (such as planets and moons) before coming up with a process to assign a permanent name. In more recent years, the public has had a chance to come up with names in a few contests, for alien stars and planets as well as Mercury craters, among other objects.⠀ ⠀ Participants in the Jovian contest earlier this year had to contend with technical requirements dictated by the IAU (staying within character limits and matching the direction of the moon’s orbit, which affects the final letter of the name).⠀ ⠀ Pandia (formerly S/2017 J4) is named for the daughter of Zeus and the moon goddess Selene. Many people submitted entries suggesting this name, but the one that really caught Carnegie’s attention came from Emma Hugo, who represented the astronomy club of the Lanivet School in Cornwall, U.K., the institution said.⠀ ⠀ Ersa (formerly S/2018 J1) takes its name from the sister of Pandia, another daughter of Zeus and Selene. Carnegie said more than 20 tweets suggested this name, but the institution highlighted the contributions of space news aggregator Aaron Quah (who sent the suggestion first) and a 4-year-old named Walter who sang a song about Ersa.⠀ ⠀ The choice of Eirene (formerly S/2003 J5) recognizes the goddess of peace, a daughter of Zeus and Themis. Carnegie received about 16 tweets with this suggestion.⠀ ⠀ Philophrosyne (formerly S/2003 J15) is named for the spirit of welcome and kindness, who’s also the granddaughter of Zeus. Carnegie highlighted several participants who suggested this name, including space fan Lunartic, who posted a YouTube video about this name suggestion.⠀ ⠀ Text Credit: Elizabeth Howell for space.com⠀ Image: © NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team via Instagram https://ift.tt/2zssACk -- source link