# Eris Slays Xena, Dysnomia Born **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eris-slays-xena-dysnomia-born/372637 "2006-09-14T03:28:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eris-slays-xena-dysnomia-born/372637/1 "2006-09-14T03:28:22Z")
[Hail Eris, Goddess of Discord!](http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/science/4185457.html): > [@](#): > > A distant, icy rock whose discovery shook up the solar system and led to Pluto’s planetary demise has been given a name: Eris. > > The christening of Eris, named after the Greek goddess of chaos and strife, was announced by the International Astronomical Union on Wednesday. Weeks earlier, the professional astronomers’ group stripped Pluto of its planethood under new controversial guidelines. > > Since its discovery last year, Eris, which had been known as 2003 UB313, ignited a debate about what constitutes a planet. > … > Eris’ moon also received a formal name: **Dysnomia** , the daughter of Eris known as the spirit of lawlessness. > … > Brown nicknamed it “ **Xena** ” after the fictional warrior princess pending an official designation. He admits the new name will take some getting used to. > > “It’s a little sad to see Xena go away,” he said. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eris-slays-xena-dysnomia-born/372637/2 "2006-09-14T03:44:12Z")
Okay, Eris is a damn fitting name, I have to say. But “Dysnomia”? I find it slightly amusing that the word also refers to a short term memory disorder where people can’t remember names (among other things), because there’s no way I’m going to remember it isn’t named “Xena”. Hail, Eris! ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eris-slays-xena-dysnomia-born/372637/3 "2006-09-14T04:07:12Z")
Given all the trouble it caused for Pluto, Eris is an inspired name for that thing. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eris-slays-xena-dysnomia-born/372637/4 "2006-09-14T05:28:56Z")
I’m a little sorry I didn’t get to start this thread, but my happiness about the naming more than makes up for it. I’m geeked out. And if you have to name _anything_ Dysnomia, it _would_ be a moon circling Eris. I’ll do a short reading from the Principia before I go to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eris-slays-xena-dysnomia-born/372637/5 "2006-09-14T05:40:52Z")
And as the [Bad Astronomer pointed out](http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2006/09/13/xena-no-more/), going for Dysnomia ties in with the Xena name - we’ve got a moon named for the goddess of lawlessness orbiting a planet temporarily named after a character played by Lucy Lawless. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eris-slays-xena-dysnomia-born/372637/6 "2006-09-14T06:17:20Z")
Reading up on Eris, I think it’s also appropriate that it has a very eccentric orbit. Now I just want to know how they spotted it through all the fnords. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eris-slays-xena-dysnomia-born/372637/7 "2006-09-14T09:47:15Z")
[QUOTE=Ms Macphisto] And as the [Bad Astronomer pointed out](http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2006/09/13/xena-no-more/), going for Dysnomia ties in with the Xena name - we’ve got a moon named for the goddess of lawlessness orbiting a planet temporarily named after a character played by Lucy Lawless. [/QUOTE] He He. That’s just genius. Well done the astronomical community! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eris-slays-xena-dysnomia-born/372637/8 "2006-09-14T11:07:05Z")
Great choice, I really like it. Say, what happened to **erislover**? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eris-slays-xena-dysnomia-born/372637/9 "2006-09-14T12:36:08Z")
[QUOTE=Ms Macphisto] And as the [Bad Astronomer pointed out](http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2006/09/13/xena-no-more/), going for Dysnomia ties in with the Xena name - we’ve got a moon named for the goddess of lawlessness orbiting a planet temporarily named after a character played by Lucy Lawless. [/QUOTE] :smack: I totally missed that! And now I’ll never forget the name. 😃