Pluto’s newest moon set to be named Vulcan after Star Trek fans win online naming contest

Pluto’s newest moon is set to be called Vulcan, a name suggested by actor William Shatner, who played Capt. Kirk in the original ‘Star Trek’ TV series, following an online campaign by the show’s fans.

Vulcan received nearly 200,000 votes among the 450,000 cast during a two-week contest.

The second recently-discovered moon will be called Cerberus, after the three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld, which received 100,000 votes.

Vulcan was the Roman god of lava and smoke, and the nephew of Pluto.

It was also the home planet of the pointy-eared humanoids in the ‘Star Trek’ shows.

’174,062 votes and Vulcan came out on top of the voting for the naming of Pluto’s moons.

‘Thank you to all who voted!’ Shatner said in a tweet once the tally was complete.

Actor Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed Spock, joked: ‘If my people were emotional they would say they are pleased.’