Back in the 1980’s, a now-defunct magazine called Science Digest held a contest to name Planet X — the still-undiscovered world that astronomers believed might lie out beyond Pluto. One of the best ...

We have to name stuff. If we didn't, we wouldn't know what we're talking about. When Pluto and its moons were essentially pinpoints, we got along with the bare bones. Not anymore. Every new solar ...

On July 14, NASA’s New Horizons (http://www.nasa.gov/newhorizons) spacecraft will fly past Pluto, offering the first close-up look at that small, distant world and ...

Come on down to the underworld, folks — we’re talking about Pluto. Named for the maiden-snatching, shadow-dwelling god of the underworld, the small but mighty planet Pluto is associated with ...

The student-built science instrument on NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto has been renamed to honor one of astronomy’s most famous students – the “little girl” who named the ninth planet more than ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune has been designated the third plutoid in the solar system and given the name Makemake, the International Astronomical Union said on ...