posted February 25, 2008 01:34 AM            

One dwarf planet received a new name on Thursday from the International Astronomical Union, and another, Pluto, has a new number.

Eris is the new permanent name for the solar body formerly known as Xena, while Pluto’s new number reflects its loss of planetary status.

Dr. Michael E. Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology who discovered the distant ball of ice and rock that he nicknamed Xena and that had been designated 2003 UB313, chose the name Eris, after the goddess of discord and strife in Greek mythology.

“It is absolutely the perfect name,” Brown said, given the continuing discord among astronomers and the public over whether Pluto should have retained its planetary status.

In mythology, Eris ignited discord that led to the Trojan War.

“She causes strife by causing arguments among men, by making them think their opinions are right and everyone else’s is wrong,” Brown said. “It really is just perfect.”

Pluto, now that it is no longer a planet, has been assigned number 134340 in the catalog of minor planets. In 1999, the Minor Planet Center at the astronomical union had proposed assigning Pluto the number 10000 in the same catalog, to give it dual citizenship as both a planet and a member of the Kuiper Belt, a ring of icy debris beyond Neptune. Brian Marsden, director of the center, said the number was meant as special recognition for Pluto, but he withdrew the idea after protests from people who saw it as a demotion.

But the discovery last year of Eris, which is slightly larger than Pluto and had been regarded by some as the solar system’s 10th planet, led to the demotion and a minor-planet number after all. http://www-tech.mit.edu/V126/N38/38shorts2.html

“She causes strife by causing arguments among men, by making them think their opinions are right and everyone else’s is wrong,” Brown said. “It really is just perfect.”

I think Michael Brown was onto something when he named that object. It sure fits with ideology,religious issues,bigotry,terrorism,diversity,divergence.