Credit: NASA
Jupiter has 79 moons, but five recently spotted ones have been officially given names.
Keeping up with tradition, the moons’ monikers come from Greek and Roman mythology. What makes the naming so unique is that it was done through a public contest.
The moons were discovered by planetary scientist Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in July of 2018. The spotting happened by surprise as Scott and his colleagues were looking for a potential Planet Nine orbiting beyond Neptune.
Taking to social media, the team turned to Twitter to name the new moons. However, there was one iron-clad rule: Jupiter’s moons must all be named for followers of the god Jupiter from Roman mythology, or Zeus in Greek myths. People came up with all kinds of interesting names, but here were the five winners:
Pandia-
- Daughter of Zeus
- Goddess of the full moon
- Winning name came from the astronomy club of the Lanivet Community Primary School in Bodmin, England
Ersa-
- Sister of Pandia
- Goddess of dew
- 4-year-old moon expert Walter snagged the judges’ attention with this name
Eirene-
- Goddess of peace
- Daughter of Zeus and Themis
- Themis was a Greek Titaness who is all about the law and justice
Philophrosyne-
- Granddaughter of Zeus
- The spirit of kindness and welcoming
Eupheme-
- Sister of Philophrosyne
- Spirit of good omens and praise
Now the question is… who will be the first person to land on these moons?
