Charon. Credit: NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

The names Nix and Hydra have been approved for the two small satellites of Pluto discovered in May 2005. The International Astronomical Union (IAU), the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies, approved the names this week.

A team of researchers from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colo., The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., used Hubble Space Telescope images to make the discovery in support of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt beyond.

"We're very pleased with the decision of the IAU," says co-leader of the discovery team, Dr. Alan Stern, executive director of the SwRI Space Science andNix formed. Hydra is the terrifying monster with the body of a serpent and nine heads, befitting the outermost moon of Pluto, the ninth planet in the solar system.

In addition, just as Pluto's name begins with the letters "P" and "L" to honor Percival Lowell, who motivated the search that led to its discovery, Nix and Hydra honor the search for new satellites and the New Horizons mission to Pluto by starting with the letters "N" and "H." The first letter of Hydra also honors the Hubble Space Telescope that was used to detect the satellites.

Editors: Images to accompany this story are available at http://www.swri.org/press/2006/nixhydra.htm and

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