Planets, moons and other celestial bodies are named according to rules established by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Pluto did not have any rules for naming surface features because, ...

Not much to name in our current view of Pluto (left). That will all change during the July flyby when New Horizons will image features down to 1 mile (1.6 km) across. Credit: NASA Here's your chance ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Pluto is considered a planetary oddball -- a tiny, frozen world so unlike the other planets that some astronomers doubt whether it even deserves to be called a planet.

Chemists of the Manhattan Project were having mythology trouble. They had created two new elements, Nos. 95 and 96 (TIME, Nov. 26). But when they tried to name them, they were stumped. Uranium (No. 92 ...