Editing Orcus (dwarf planet) (section)

=== Name and symbol ===
The [[minor planet]] Orcus was named after one of the Roman gods of the underworld, [[Orcus]]. While [[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto]] (of Greek origin) was the ruler of the underworld, Orcus (of Etruscan origin) was a punisher of the condemned. The name was published by the [[Minor Planet Center]] on 26 November 2004 ({{small|[[Minor Planet Circulars|M.P.C.]] 53177}}).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" /> Under the guidelines of the [[International Astronomical Union]]'s (IAU) [[astronomical naming conventions|naming conventions]], objects with a similar size and [[orbit]] to that of [[Pluto]] are named after [[underworld]] deities. Accordingly, the discoverers suggested naming the object after ''Orcus'', the Etruscan god of the underworld and punisher of broken oaths. The name was also a private reference to the homonymous [[Orcas Island]], where Brown's wife had lived as a child and that they visit frequently.<ref name="brown16" />

On 30 March 2005, Orcus's moon, [[Vanth (moon)|Vanth]], was named after a winged female entity, [[Vanth]], of the Etruscan underworld. She could be present at the moment of death, and frequently acted as a [[psychopomp]], a guide of the deceased to the underworld.<ref name="Johnston90482" />

The usage of [[planetary symbol]]s is no longer recommended in astronomy, so Orcus never received a symbol in the astronomical literature. A symbol {{angbr|[[File:Orcus symbol (fixed width).svg|16px|🝿]]}}, used mostly among astrologers,<ref name=miller>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2021/21224-dwarf-planet-syms.pdf|title=Unicode request for dwarf-planet symbols|last=Miller|first=Kirk|date=26 October 2021|website=unicode.org|access-date=29 January 2022|archive-date=23 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323174107/https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2021/21224-dwarf-planet-syms.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> is included in [[Unicode]] as U+1F77F.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/alloc/Pipeline.html |title=Proposed New Characters: The Pipeline |access-date=2022-01-29 |archive-date=2022-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129110620/https://www.unicode.org/alloc/Pipeline.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The symbol was designed by Denis Moskowitz, a software engineer in Massachusetts; it is an OR [[monogram]], designed to resemble both a skull and an [[orca]]'s gape.<ref name=anderson>{{cite web |url=http://blog.unicode.org/2022/05/out-of-this-world-new-astronomy-symbols.html |title=Out of this World: New Astronomy Symbols Approved for the Unicode Standard |last=Anderson |first=Deborah |date=4 May 2022 |website=unicode.org |publisher=The Unicode Consortium |access-date=6 August 2022 |archive-date=6 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806075352/http://blog.unicode.org/2022/05/out-of-this-world-new-astronomy-symbols.html |url-status=live }}</ref> There is a rarer symbol [[File:Orcus anti-Pluto symbol (fixed width).svg|16px]], an inverted [[Astrological symbols|astrological]] Pluto symbol, reflecting Orcus as the anti-Pluto: it was designed by Melanie Reinhart.<ref name=miller/>