Well, that's a relief!
I was right.
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology say that "Xena" was a joking internal reference to the newly discovered planet/KBO among the astronomers there. It was never intended as a serious proposal for a name.
This also explains why it was mainly the popular media, rather than more reputable astronomical sources, which reported that "Xena" and "Gabrielle" were the actual names of the primary and its moon, or at least proposed names.
Still no word from the International Astronomical Union as to an official name.
As for the unofficial name by which the object will be known on this blog in the interim, upon further thought I have decided that Denise is right: in view of its extreme variation from the plane of the Solar System, its size, its distance from the Sun, its possession of a moon, and its association with Pluto, the new object should be called, not 'Mickey,' but 'Goofy.'
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology say that "Xena" was a joking internal reference to the newly discovered planet/KBO among the astronomers there. It was never intended as a serious proposal for a name.
This also explains why it was mainly the popular media, rather than more reputable astronomical sources, which reported that "Xena" and "Gabrielle" were the actual names of the primary and its moon, or at least proposed names.
Still no word from the International Astronomical Union as to an official name.
As for the unofficial name by which the object will be known on this blog in the interim, upon further thought I have decided that Denise is right: in view of its extreme variation from the plane of the Solar System, its size, its distance from the Sun, its possession of a moon, and its association with Pluto, the new object should be called, not 'Mickey,' but 'Goofy.'
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