Dwarf Named by Dead Girl
I had no idea that a little girl named Pluto. The story is a little bit more complicated than that but it’s a good read. I wonder how she felt when it was reclassified as a dwarf planet?
Frozen and lonely, Planet X circled the far reaches of the solar system awaiting discovery and a name. It got one thanks to an 11-year-old British girl named Venetia Burney, an enthusiast of the planets and classical myth.
On March 14, 1930, the day newspapers reported that the long-suspected “trans-Neptunian body” had been photographed for the first time, she proposed to her well-connected grandfather that it be named Pluto, after the Roman god of the underworld.
And so it was.
Venetia Phair, as she became by marriage, died April 30 in her home in Banstead, in the county of Surrey, England. She was 90. The death was confirmed by her son, Patrick.
Venetia Phair Dies at 90; as a Girl, She Named Pluto – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com
Additional Coverage:
Namer of Pluto, Venetia Phair, Dies : Mike the Mad Biologist
Venetia Phair, who suggested the name Pluto for the planet orbitting body space thingee we call Pluto died recently. How it came to be called Pluto is fascinating: Frozen and lonely, Planet X…
http://scienceblogs.com
Language Log » Venetia Phair, namer of Pluto
Venetia Phair Dies at 90; as a Girl, She Named Pluto. She died on 30 April at her home in Banstead, Surrey. The core of the story: On March 14, 1930, the day newspapers reported that the…
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
Jezebel – Venetia Phair, Who Named "Pluto," Dies At 90 – Venetia Phair
In 1930, 11-year-old Venetia Phair suggested that the newly discovered planet beyond Neptune be named Pluto. On April 30, she died in her home in Banstead, England at the age of 90.
http://jezebel.com
Venetia Phair, Who Named Pluto, Dies at 90 at Parabolic Arc
Venetia Phair, who as a young girl named the planet Pluto, has died at her home in England at the age of 90.
http://www.parabolicarc.com
Venetia Phair Dies at 90; as a Girl, She Named Pluto – 11-May-09 …
Venetia Phair Dies at 90; as a Girl, She Named Pluto by : Frozen and lonely, Planet X circled the far reaches of the solar system awaiting discovery and a name. It got one thanks to an 11-year-old…
http://www.babchouston.org
Venetia Phair, the person who named Pluto, dies at Sydney …
For more information on Venetia Phair née Burney who died on 30 April 2009 aged 90 see her obituary. As Clyde Tombaugh died in 1997, Venetia’s death removes the last link to an important…
http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au
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