Madan, a former librarian at the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library.

Madan passed the

name to Professor Herbert Hall Turner, who then cabled it to colleagues in the United States.
Pluto officially became Pluto on March 24, 1930.  The name was announced on May 1, 1930,
and Venetia received five pounds (£5) as a reward.

A pair of
small moons that NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope discovered orbiting Pluto now have official names: Nix
and Hydra. NASA.

Published: 11/19/2019. Author: Science Reference Section, Library of Congress

Related Websites

 International Astronomical Union (IAU): Pluto and the Developing Landscape of our Solar
System External - A discussion about Pluto from IAU that includes a history, references to how a
planet is defined and a link to the report on the final resolution. Also included are questions and
answers about Planets, Dwarf Planets, and Small Solar System Bodies.
 The Girl Who Named a Planet External - This is an article about Venetia (Burney) Phair, the girl
who named the planet Pluto.
 NOVA: The Pluto Files External - Watch the PBS program which features Neil deGrasse Tyson
exploring the rise and fall of America’s favorite planet.
 Solar System Exploration: Pluto - NASA provides an abundance of information about Pluto such
as facts, images, headline news, and a video.
Further Reading

 Boyle, Alan. The case for Pluto: how a little planet made a big difference. Hoboken, N.J, John
Wiley & Sons, c2010. 258 p.
 Doressoundiram, Alain, and Emmanuel Lellouch. At the edge of the solar system: icy new worlds
unveiled. [Translator, Bob Mizon]. Berlin, New York, Springer Verlag; Chichester, U.K,: Published
in association with Praxis, c2010. 205 p. Original French edition: Aux confin de système solaire
 Hoyt, William Graves. Planets X and Pluto.. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, c1980.
 Pickering, W.H. Trans-Neptunian Planet. Popular astronomy, v. 38, June-July 1930: 341-344.
 Putnam, Roger Lowell, and V.M. Slipher. Searching out Pluto, Lowell's trans-Neptunian planet
X. Scientific monthly, v. 34, Jan. 1932: 5-21.
 Tyson, Neil deGrasse. The Pluto files: the rise and fall of America's favorite planet. New York,
W.W. Norton, c2009. 194 p.

Search Terms

 Pluto (dwarf planet).

 Planets.
 Solar System.

Have a question? Ask a