The New Horizons probe is nearing the most distant world directly explored by a human-made spacecraft. The NASA site headlines a heart, but on BBC, they picked up a whale.
People imagine familiar things when they view strange, new things. Even worlds.
I’m not sure what the naming tradition for this distant world will be. I tend to think that “heart” and “whale” will not be the official names for these objects.
By next Wednesday, these features will come into sharper focus. For now, earthbound observers can be content to know Pluto doesn’t seem to be dead, at least in terms of those deeply cold processes of ice, snow, and how every sidus in the heavens seems to have some unique or particular quality.
Catholic Sensibility 