IAU Numbers Pluto as an Asteroid, Renames Xena and Gabrielle
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
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(134340) PLUTO, (136199) ERIS, AND (136199) ERIS I (DYSNOMIA)
Following the Aug. 24 resolution by the IAU to the effect that the solar system contains eight “planets” (Mercury- Neptune), with (1) Ceres, Pluto (cf. IAUC 255), and 2003 UB313 (cf. IAUC 8577) to be considered representative “dwarf planets”, the Minor Planet Center included Pluto and 2003 UB313 (along with two other new potential dwarf-planet candidates) in the standard catalogue of numbered objects with well-determined orbits as (134340) and (136199), respectively (see MPC 57525). Following near-unanimous acceptance by both the Committee on Small-Body Nomenclature and the Working Group on Planetary-System Nomenclature (in consultation with the discovery team), the IAU Executive Committee has now approved the names Eris for (136199) and Dysnomia for its satellite (136199) Eris I [formerly S/2005 (2003 UB313) 1; cf. IAUC 8610].
