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"Xena" To Be Named Eris 167

Posted by kdawson from the all-hail-discorida dept.
rdwald writes, "After over a year of hanging in maybe-planet limbo, newly-classified 2003 UB313, nicknamed Xena, now has a permanent name: Eris, goddess of strife. Its moon will be named Dysnomia, after the goddess of lawlessness — in Greek mythology, Eris's daughter — certainly not a reference there... I don't think I'm alone when I say, 'Hail Eris! All hail Discordia!'" In the same IAU announcement (PDF), Pluto was given its official minor planet number: 134340.
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"Xena" To Be Named Eris More

"Xena" To Be Named Eris

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  • DNA said it best (Score:4, Funny)

    by MichaelSmith ( 789609 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @08:34AM (#16103202) Homepage Journal

    You cant use that popular name. We will give it our own name so that you know that its ours, not yours.

    Or something like that. My copy is upstairs and I can't be bothered to check.

    • You cant use that popular name. We will give it our own name so that you know that its ours, not yours.

      Who says the goddesses Eris and Dysnomia weren't popular in ancient times? I'm sure the goddesses of strife and lawlessness were widely worshipped by ancient Greek and Roman hooligans, rioters, lynch-mobs and criminals in general.

      • Re:Not popular?!?! (Score:4, Funny)

        by crawling_chaos ( 23007 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @10:01AM (#16103996) Homepage
        I'm sure the goddesses of strife and lawlessness were widely worshipped by ancient Greek and Roman hooligans, rioters, lynch-mobs and criminals in general.

        We'd have to trace both the Bush and Kennedy family trees back that far to be sure though.

      • Who says the goddesses Eris and Dysnomia weren't popular in ancient times?

        Eris was popular (if you can call a goddess of strife "popular"), Dysnomia not so much so -- at least in the sense that Eris appears in literature a fair bit. I don't know offhand of any temples to either goddess outside civic complexes. Incidentally, both goddesses are in fact personifications, i.e. eris is the word for strife, dysnomia is simply the word for "bad governance"; but Eris in particular has a respectable provenance and

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ajs ( 35943 )
      And every reference work in the next 100 years is pretty much going to have to say, "Eris, which was originally designated UB313 and nicknamed Xena by its discoverers..." So, why bother? What harm could letting the guy who discovered it name it actually do? Certainly, if he'd named it after himself or his pet cat, that would be questionable, but naming it after a popular culture icon seems as fair as naming it after an ancient religion... no, scratch that; it seems a lot better to me.

  • Sounds more like a "film noir" or an old german submarine. Eris? It'll immediately be confused with Eros. UB313! UB313! UB313!

  • Why not Xena? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bob_Villa ( 926342 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @08:35AM (#16103211)
    She was a great 'warrior' in her own right, I loved watching her show.
    Especially those outfits, that was one of the best parts. I can never get my wife to wear things like that.

    You will be missed, Xena.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Because naming a planet Xena was too difficult - it would have been much easier for the scientists involved to simply tattoo the word "loser" to their foreheads.

    • Re:Why not Xena? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 14, 2006 @09:05AM (#16103433)
      Get the connection???

      Xena -> Lucy Lawless -> Goddess of Lawlessness

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        GOLLY, I totally didn't get that from the obvious wording of sarcasm indicating there was a connection. Thanks! If you hadn't pointed that out, I'm sure nobody else would have gotten it! (Note: Please don't point out the sarcasm in this post. I prefer when people who can't detect sarcasm don't get it pointed out to them. They'll never be the wiser! Wait, you mean they can read this aside too? Sonufa...)
      • actually battle Eris' minions in a couple of episodes of their shows?
    • ....Astronomy needs class to get funding.

      • ....Astronomy needs class to get funding.

        No. Astronomy, like everything else, needs either barely clothed girls or the ability to kill lots of people to get funding. Why do you think they named it Xena in the first place ?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cgenman ( 325138 )
      Eris / Dischord is pretty cute too.

      http://xenaphan.com/Discord.jpg [xenaphan.com]

      Good luck making your wife a hot evil midget, though.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by maxwell demon ( 590494 )
      Maybe it was just Xenophobia why they chose another name.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ikcor ( 676683 )
      The best part of using Xena was the moon was nicknamed Gabrielle.
  • The announcement cryptically mentions "...two other new potential dwarf-planet candidates" and I'm not sure which they mean.

    Come in CowboyNeal, your time has come...
    I have no idea about the second one though.

  • First planet named after an IRC network! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tillmann ( 859300 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @08:40AM (#16103254)
    Hi,

    sweet! First planet named after an IRC network!
    Long live EFnet!

    bye,
    Till

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @08:44AM (#16103283)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • That's no moon... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Mr. Slippery ( 47854 ) <tms&infamous,net> on Thursday September 14, 2006 @08:45AM (#16103289) Homepage

    ...it's a giant golden apple!

    Kallisti!

  • It was supposed to be called Yuggoth [wikipedia.org]. So now, what, we have to wait for an 11th planet? Damn it.
  • hmm so how to calibrate the horoscopes?

    :)

  • So... (Score:2, Funny)

    by trav242 ( 645556 )
    Does Hagbard know about this? Well, I guess Gold & Appel Transfers will be getting into the space-race too.

  • Hail Eris :) (Score:4, Informative)

    by kyknos.org ( 643709 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @08:53AM (#16103336) Homepage
    I will run my ddate programm to celebrate it :)

    Today is Boomtime, the 38th day of Bureaucracy in the YOLD 3172

  • Hail Eris (Score:5, Funny)

    by PakProtector ( 115173 ) <cevkiv@@@gmail...com> on Thursday September 14, 2006 @08:58AM (#16103384) Journal

    Hail Eris, full of Taste, the IAU is with thee.
    Funky art thou among Goddesses, and Blessed is the Golden Apple of thy planet, Eris.
    Holy Eris, She who Dunnit, pray for all us humans now, and in the lifetime of our confusion.
    Fnord.

    • This made me laugh out loud. Gonna be posted to my office wall for all eternity, or duration of my employment here, whichever is longer. Excuse me whilst I go partake of a hot dog.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by zobier ( 585066 )
        Excuse me whilst I go partake of a hot dog.
        Unless you're on this side of the dateline you'd better wait 'till tomorrow.
        • You're right. I realized after I posted that it was not the day to partake of a hot dog. But I shall do so today.

  • Kind of an appropriate name (Score:5, Insightful)

    by miro f ( 944325 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @09:02AM (#16103405)
    given the strife and discord its discovery created within the land of astronomers
    • the strife and discord its discovery created within the land of astronomers

      The poet Hesiod [wikipedia.org] noted in his Works and Days that there were two kinds of Eris [wikipedia.org] and one of them good. The spirit of friendly competition and one-upsmanship on it's own are good for society. Those are the challenges which advance the state of the art. It's lawless harm to others that is dangerous and makes us all poorer. When a thing is destroyed, the world is that much poorer. When things are created, the world is richer. Those

      • curiously this is exactly what the Catholic pope has to say on the subject.

        "Nobody the Spanish Inquisition!"

  • Strife and Discord - Xena connection after all! (Score:4, Informative)

    by Nick Gisburne ( 681796 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @09:07AM (#16103449) Homepage
    I suspect that the astronomer who wanted Xena and Gabrielle to be the names of the planet and its companion has still got his Xenaphile way - Strife and Discord were two very prominent characters in many of the Xena episodes. Usually associated with Ares, the God of War who of course already has his own planet, Mars (the Roman version). The trio is united!

    • Strife and Discord were two very prominent characters in many of the Xena episodes. Usually associated with Ares, the God of War who of course already has his own planet, Mars (the Roman version). The trio is united!

      Really ? Do you have links to pictures ? That should be a bigger boom than the Shoemaker affair :).

  • 134340 (Score:3, Funny)

    by the_other_one ( 178565 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @09:12AM (#16103490) Homepage
    I am not a number. I am a free planet!
  • Eris has her own planet now. Her ego's going to inflate so much that Mandy might finally meet her match.

  • Objection! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by transami ( 202700 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @09:21AM (#16103582) Homepage
    These are Greek names, not Roman!

    Moreover, the person who discovered them should have every right to name them wahtever he/she wants. Elitism is unacceptable.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by whitehatlurker ( 867714 )
      Discordia is the Latin counterpart for the Greek Eris.

      Dysnomia is Greek, but I've forgotten the name of the Latin counterpart.

      • It may be of interest that an almost-literal translation of dysnomia into Latin would be discordia. Ah well.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Tim the Gecko ( 745081 )
      Moreover, the person who discovered them should have every right to name them wahtever he/she wants
      Herschel originally named Uranus "George's star" in honor of King George III of Great Britain. Let's go back to the name he wanted, and make a thousand Slashdot comments obsolete!

  • so now... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Nicaboker ( 978150 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @09:29AM (#16103673)
    Dear Earth,

          Pleas do not take this letter as me being bitter but I must say I am rather upset. I have been there with you during the good times and the bad. I know I am smaller than most other planets, but I never thought you would reject me for it. We've been friends for so many years and now you no longer wish to call me a Planet. Just know that when the astroid comes flying towards you I wont be there to try and stop it anymore. I guess what I'm trying to say is... SCREW YOU!!

    Pluto

    P.S. Eris, you suck too
    • Dear Pluto,

      Welcome to the crowd of planet has-beens. And quit bitchin' ... at least you have one of those newfangled Earth satellites coming to greet you. I have yet to get a greeting card from those Earthilngs.

      Ceres

  • She Who Done It All.
  • Hail Eris full of grace, holy queen of outer space!

  • Strife and lawlessness, perfect names for the time (Score:3, Funny)

    by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Thursday September 14, 2006 @09:39AM (#16103776)
    Eris, goddess of strife. Its moon will be named Dysnomia, after the goddess of lawlessness

    Why did the image of Iraq suddenly flash through my head as I read this?

    -Eric

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mcmonkey ( 96054 )

      Eris, goddess of strife. Its moon will be named Dysnomia, after the goddess of lawlessness

      Shouldn't the moon be named after the goddess of gonads [wikipedia.org]?

    • The current conflict in Iraq actually provides a beautiful illustration of the continued balancing of the Sacred Chao. The Sacred Chao, that Wholly mating of the Hodge and the Podge must always balance, for if it didn't balance, it would tip and tipping the Sacred Chao would be wholly disasterous.

      So we see the esclation of Order, and an equal and proportionate esclation of Chaos, which is responded to by Order, which is countered with Chaos... and it will continue until the humans involved decide to stop.

      Er
  • SSIAFNORD!

  • Follows the Law of Fives (Score:3, Insightful)

    by LargeWu ( 766266 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @09:56AM (#16103956)
    How appropriate. The Law of Fives states that all things happen in fives, or multiples of five, or are somehow directly or indirectly related to the number five.

    If you add up the digits in the name (2003 UB313, u=21 and b = 2), it adds up to 32, and then if you add up those digits in 32, 3 + 2 = 5. Also, there are 5 non-zero digits in the name of the planet.

    Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!
  • My very educated mother just showed us nine ... hmmm... [reference.com]

    Couldn't they have at least chosen something with a P since they've demoted Pluto?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by lxs ( 131946 )
      ...eggs? ...elephants? ...extraterrestrials? ...entemologists? ...exhibitionists?

      but you shouldn't forget ceres and ub313 so it will be

      My very educated mother cleverly just showed us nine unusual exhibitionists.
    • Pluto is still Pluto.

      Just because it has a number doesn't make the name go away. Let's see... I like the "Jelly Sandwich":

      Mother Very Thoughtfully Makes A Jelly Sandwich Using No Persimmons... Everyday.

      (Earnestly if you don't care for 'Terra')

      (Jelly Sandwiches instead of A Jelly Standwich to keep the Asteroids out)
  • Duck and cover!
    Better start looking out for Damocles [wikipedia.org]!

    Well, if you lived on Eris anyway...
  • ...British English...

    So, when we find a stable wormhole nest to Eris - will it be called the Erishole?

    Was Pluto not enough, was there a problem with Uranus too? Did you astronomers feel that perhaps there were not enough double entendres already that you had to add potentially many, many more by using Eris?

    Sigh, I thnk we should really consider not allowing astronomers to name things anymore. Eris - arse... seriously people!!!

  • lawless (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    obviously Xena is the goddess of lucy lawlessness
  • It's too soon for a planet named Xena. You've got to give it about 1000 years, when the lens of history has changed the common understanding of Xena from "television warrior bimbo" to "goddess of war worshipped at the start of the last millenium."

  • Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia! (Score:5, Informative)

    by giblfiz ( 125533 ) on Thursday September 14, 2006 @10:57AM (#16104523)
    Its good to know that we Discordians [cmu.edu] have the pull in the scientific community that one would exspect us to.


    ON PRAYER
    Mal-2 was once asked by one of his Disciples if he often prayed to Eris. He replied with these words:

    No, we Erisians seldom pray, it is much too dangerous. Charles Fort has listed many factual incidences of ignorant people confronted with, say, a drought, and then praying fervently -- and then getting the entire village wiped out in a torrential flood.

            "Of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. I'm mad but not ill"
     
  • I have a doubt: How do say 'Eris' instead of 'Ares'? I think this is why she is the goddess of discord, no one knows how to pronounce her name without confusing with her father's, and it must piss her off :P

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nimey ( 114278 )
      The .us pronunciation for Eris seems to be "EH-ris" and Ares "AIR-es".

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dclydew ( 14163 )
      Aries and Eris are siblings... Both born of Nyx and Chaos, or Hera and Zeus or maybe some other old Greek swingers.
  • I don't think I'm alone when I say, 'Hail Eris! All hail Discordia!'"

    No, you're not [skytonight.com]. In fact, you probably aren't the first either. Slashdot isn't the *only* place that geeks hang out, you know. :)
  • You mean they're not going to name planets after TV shows any more? I was hoping the next planet/moon pair discovered would be names Sanford and Son.
  • It still needs to be said, from an earlier thread:

    Some people just seem to have a negative emotional response to the idea that there may be hundreds of planets in the Solar System, and that emotional response seems to be what has won the day here. There is no science behind this at all, it is a definition that is arbitrarily designed to permanently cap the number of planets to a small, manageable number. I see at least two big problems with this, first, the opening up to the possibility of there being hundr
  • Maybe it is a Latin name, I don't know. But there is no Xena in ancient Greek mythology. The damage is done from the popular show 'Xena' and 'Hercules and Xena'...but if we were to believe those shows, then Ninjas helped Hercules with his tasks, along with Asterix...
  • I'm still stunned at the level of personal attachment people feel over planetary names. Pluto probably is as popular as it is because of the Disney character. People are upset that 2003 UB313 was named "Eris" because they had affection for the name "Xena".

    All of this is incredibly silly.

    I propose that we take an existing planet, say Jupiter, and start calling it the planet "Vagina". A popular affectionate name we can all call it, petition the IAU and write protest songs about.

    It will be the Flying Spaghe

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by argent ( 18001 )
      I'm still stunned at the level of personal attachment people feel over planetary names.

      You can't call a planet "Bob"!
  • O, Discordia!

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