One of two recently discovered moons orbiting the former planet Pluto could be named "Vulcan", if the Internet has its way.
SETI Institute, an organization which searches for traces of intelligent life in the universe, along with Dr. Showalter and teams of scientists discovered the new objects in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
For the moment, the moons have been dubbed P4 and P5. Poll takers were presented with a list of 21 possible names. "Vulcan", which was submitted by none other than William Shatner, who played Captain James Tiberius Kirk in the original Star Trek television series, won out by 50,000 votes. Vulcan is the home planet (and species name) of Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy."Cerberus" snagged second place. More than 450,000 people participated in the poll.
Despite the overwhelming show of support, the name hasn't stuck yet. The authority to officially name astronomical objects rests with the International Astronomical Union (IAU), who was responsible for Pluto's infamous demotion from 'planet' to 'dwarf planet' status in 2006. While the names have been submitted to the IAU, theirs is the final say and no amount of internet polling can change that.
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