Munich: The International Astronomical Union announces the names (136199) Eris for the dwarf planet provisionally named 2003 UB313 and Dysnomia for its moon.

The dwarf planet formerly known as 2003 UB313 received the official designation (136199) Eris, or Eris in short, from the International Astronomical Union on 13th September 2006. The name was accepted almost unanimously by the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) and the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature (CSBN).

Eris is the second dwarf planet in a sub category of objects of which Pluto is the prototype.

The name Eris was proposed by one of the discoverers, Michael Brown (Caltech, USA).

(136199) Eris was discovered on 5th January 2005 by M. E. Brown, C. A. Trujillo, and D. Rabinowitz at the Palomar Observatory.

Eris is a the Greek goddess of discord and strife. She stirs up jealousy and envy to cause fighting and anger among men. At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the parents of the Greek hero Achilles, all the gods with the exception of Eris were invited, and, enraged at her exclusion, she spitefully caused a quarrel among the goddesses that led to the Trojan war.

Eris is pronounced ee’-ris (see link 4).

Eris’ moon, formerly known as S/2005 (2003 UB313) 1 and now known technically as (136199) Eris I, has been named Dysnomia.

Dysnomia is the Daimon spirit of lawlessness. She is the daughter of Eris, goddess of chaos and strife, and the counterpart to Eunomia who puts an end to the anger of grievous strife.

The name Dysnomia was accepted unanimously by the members of the WGPSN. The name was proposed by Mike Brown, a member of the discovery team.

The new designations have been approved by the IAU Division III Organizing Committee and by the IAU Officers and have been announced in IAU Circular 8747 13 September 2006.

Science contacts

Ted Bowell
Division III President
Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona
1-928-774-3358
ebowell@lowell.edu

Catherine Cesarskyv IAU President, ESO Director General
Tel: +49-89-32-00-62-27
E-mail: ikreutle@eso.org

PIO
Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Press Officer
ESA/Hubble, Garching, Germany
Tel: +49-89-32-00-63-06
Cellular: +49-173-3872-621
E-mail: lars@eso.org

Links

IAU Circular 8747: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/08700/08747.html

IAU web page: http://www.iau.org/

Minor Planet Electronic Circular 2006-R19: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K06/K06R19.html

Encyclopedia Mythica pronunciation guide: http://www.pantheon.org/miscellaneous/pronunciations.html