Naming Pluto When "Planet X" was discovered in 1930, astronomers began debating what to call it. An
eleven-year-old girl named Venetia Burney suggested the name "Pluto" to her
grandfather, who passed the idea along to a friend who was a professor of astronomy.
The professor, in turn, immediately forwarded the suggestion to scientists at the Lowell
Observatory, where the planet had been discovered. The astronomers appreciated the
fact that Pluto was the ancient Romans' name for the god of the underworld, making it a
fitting moniker for such a cold and distant celestial body. In addition, its first two letters
matched the initials of Percival Lowell, the astronomer who first proposed the existence of
Planet X. The matter was eventually put to a vote, with Pluto the hands-down winner.
What is the main idea of the passage?
After an eleven-year-old girl suggested "Pluto," astronomers chose it as the
name of a newly discovered planet.
Pluto is a good name for a cold, distant planet because it is the name of the
Roman god of the underworld,