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From: canopus@amdahl.UUCP (Frank Dibbell)
Newsgroups: net.astro
Subject: Re: StarDate: March 14 Naming Pluto
Message-ID: <1323@amdahl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 21-Mar-85 11:23:07 EST
Article-I.D.: amdahl.1323
Posted: Thu Mar 21 11:23:07 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 23-Mar-85 02:48:04 EST
References: <1106@utastro.UUCP> <2178@pegasus.UUCP>
Organization: Amdahl Corp, Sunnyvale CA
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> I once heard that another reason Pluto was accepted
> was because the first two letters are the initials of the person who
> discovered the ninth planet.  Is this true ?  If it is, what is his name ?

  Percival Lowell spent the last years of his life looking for the
  elusive 9th planet.  Alas, he died before its discovery in 1930 by
  Clyde Tombaugh, who I believe was an associate of Lowell's.

  My understanding of the situation is that "they" wished to name the
  newly discovered planet "Lowell", after Percival Lowell, but that this
  didn't fit in with the convention already established of naming planets
  after mythological gods/goddesses.  Enter the StarDate anecdote at this
  point.

  The fact that "Pluto" begins with "PL", the initials of Percival Lowell,
  is purely coincidental.  There exists an interesting book on the
  discovery of Pluto (so interesting, that I forgot its name!!!), that
  covers all this.  If I recall its name, I shall post it.
-- 
Frank Dibbell     (408-746-6493)                 {whatever}!amdahl!canopus
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