Xena no more
 

LOS ANGELES - A distant, icy rock whose discovery shook up the solar system and led to Pluto's planetary demise has been given a name: Eris.
The christening of Eris, named after the Greek goddess of chaos and strife, was announced by the International Astronomical Union on Wednesday. Weeks earlier, the professional astronomers' group stripped Pluto of its planethood under new controversial guidelines.
Since its discovery last year, Eris ignited a debate over what constitutes a planet.

Astronomers were split over how to classify the object — which had been known as 2003 UB313, its provisional numerical designation; or as Xena, the informal code name that was chosen by its discoverers. Some argued that it should be welcomed as the 10th planet since it was larger than Pluto, but others felt Pluto was not a full-fledged planet.

After much bickering, astronomers last month voted to shrink the solar system to eight planets, downgrading Pluto to a "dwarf planet," a category that also includes Eris and the asteroid Ceres.

Eris' discoverer, Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, said the name was an obvious choice, calling it "too perfect to resist."
In mythology, Eris caused a quarrel among goddesses that sparked the Trojan War. In real life, Eris forced scientists to define a planet that eventually led to Pluto getting the boot. Soon after Pluto's dismissal from the club of classical planets, hundreds of scientists circulated a petition protesting the decision.

Eris' moon also received a formal name: Dysnomia, the daughter of Eris known as the spirit of lawlessness. Dysnomia is the object formerly known by the code name Gabrielle.

While waiting for an official designation, Brown and his colleagues reportedly used Xena as a code name because it called to mind the term "Planet X," which commonly referred to a mysterious 10th planet. The name also alluded to the title character in "Xena: Warrior Princess," a syndicated sword-and-sorcery TV series.

"It's a little sad to see Xena go away," Brown said.

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In Related news....they gave Pluto the IAU numerical classification of an Asteroid....guess that's that :ohwell:

Indeed, a very good and appropriate name.

Do you think that naming the moon Dysnomia might be a compromise to the lame-o who named the planet/asteroid Xena? After all, Xena was played by Lucy Lawlessness. :lol:
Poor Pluto, always the forsaken one... First, being turned into a dog. Now, this... :cry: Since those Gods and Godesses love tormenting humans so much, they're all jealous of the God of the underworld.

EDIT: I didn't misspell anything. :sweatdro:

The names "Eris" & "Dysnomia" are very likely to be a tribute to Xena & Lucy Lawless, in addition to being a reminder of the discord the little planet sparked.

ETA: I'm totally still calling it Xena. :D

http://xenaphan.com/Xena%20Season%20...aph%20card.jpg

Eris is the goddess of stryfe/discord in mythology and the female counterpart of Mars. Under the name Discord she was the bain of Xena and Gabrielle near the end of the Xena series.

But yea.... goddess of Lawless-ness....those sneaky scientists... :lol:

Dysnomia
Dysnomia is a marked difficulty in remembering names or recalling appropriate words in a discussion. This problem may be particularly prominent if the person is asked to answer a question to which he/she must supply an immediate answer. However, when the person speaks spontaneously, without prompting, his/her speech appears perfectly normal.

I knew I heard of it before. I just couldn't remember the name... (ah ha ha ha ha... :roll: )
Encyclopedia Mythica makes no mention of her whatsoever. How dumb...

Welcome back, Mr. Stryker!
*breaking into song* "Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back"

That is sad to hear about Pluto.

DYSNOMIA was the female Daimon (Spirit) of lawlessness.

She was a companion of Adikia (Injustice), Ate (Ruin) and Hybris (Violence). Her opposite number was Eunomia (Civil Order).

Encyclopedia Mythica doesn't have her listed because they haven't added her yet....they're forever adding new names :P Im sure they will tho since Eunomia is there.

And incidentally Dysnomia's companions are her siblings (Ate is the child of Eris and Zeus.... Eris is the daughter of Nyx...which is the names of one of the moons of Pluto)

This is a way cool genealogy of the gods site:
http://www.csulb.edu/~dbouvier/Entities/i2276.htm