Pluto Moon Names Revealed Anew by International Astronomical Union

We have got names for the two tiny moons orbiting the dwarf planet Pluto. The once called P4 and P5, are now called “Kerberos” and “Styx”. The new names of the moons were given by the International Astronomical Union, the group responsible for naming celestial object.

IAU rules states that Pluto’s moons should be named for mythological characters of the underworld in Greek and Roman mythology. Pluto is known as the ruler of the underworld in ancient mythos.

Meaning of the Moon Names. Cerberus means the three-headed dog in Roman mythology. The name Styx is the river that separates the living from the dead in ancient myth.

In all, five moons are known to be orbiting Pluto. Charon, the largest moon, was first spotted in 1978. Two more moons, Nix and Hydra, were discovered by Hubble in 2005.