[meteorite-list] 2003 UB313 Is Now Officially Eris

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Sep 14 16:24:21 2006
Message-ID: <200609142024.NAA08567_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/planetlila/index.html#eris

2003 UB313 is now officially Eris!
Mike Brown

Eris, the largest dwarf planet known, was discovered in an ongoing
survey at Palomar Observatory's Samuel Oschin telescope by
astronomers Mike Brown (Caltech), Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory),
and David Rabinowitz (Yale University). We officially suggested the
name on 6 September 2006, and it was accepted and announced on 13
September 2006. In Greek mythology, Eris is the goddess of warfare and
strife. She stirs up jealousy and envy to cause fighting and anger among
men. At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the parents of the Greek hero
Achilles, all the gods with the exception of Eris were invited, and,
enraged at her exclusion, she spitefully caused a quarrel among the
goddesses that led to the Trojan war. In the astronomical world, Eris
stirred up a great deal of trouble among the international astronomical
community when the question of its proper designation led to a raucous
meeting of the IAU in Prague. At the end of the conference, IAU members
voted to demote Pluto and Eris to dwarf-planet status, leaving the solar
system with only eight planets.

The satellite of Eris has received the offical name Dysnomia, who in
Greek mythology is Eris' daughter and the demon spirit of lawlessness.
As Dysnomia is a bit of a mouthful, we tend to simply call the satellite
Dy, for short.

As promised for the past year, the name Xena (and satellite Gabrielle)
were simply placeholders while awaiting the IAU's decision on how an
official name was to be proposed. As that process dragged on, however,
many people got to know Xena and Gabrielle as the real names of these
objects and are sad to see them change. We admit to some sadness
ourselves. We used the names for almost two years now and are having a
hard time swtiching. But for those who miss Xena, look for the obvious
nod in the new name of the moon of Eris.
Received on Thu 14 Sep 2006 04:24:17 PM PDT