Thread: Name the Asteroid - play along!

So, daughter came home with this one from class today... What name would you give the asteroid and most importantly WHY???

Proposed names must be:

• no more than 16 characters long (including any spaces or punctuation);
• preferably one word;
• pronounceable (in some language);
• written using Latin characters (transliterations of names from languages not written using Latin characters are acceptable);
• non-offensive;
• not identical with or even too similar to an existing name of a minor planet or natural planetary satellite.

In addition, because (101955) 1999 RQ36 is a near-Earth object, its name should be from mythology, but the name should not be one associated with creation or underworld themes because those themes are used for other types of bodies in the solar system. The mythological name can come from any culture from any part of the world. In very rare cases, this definition has been stretched to include fictional mythological characters. There are some exceptions to these rules, and entries of names that are not mythological will not be disqualified. However, the International Astronomical Union is likelier to approve a name that is from mythology than one that is not.

Below is a list of the named near-Earth objects as of August 16, 2012.Follow this link for a complete listing of all named minor planets.

Abhramu Aditi Adonis Ahau Akka Albert Alinda Almeria Amor Amun Anteros Antinous Anza Apollo Apophis Aristaeus Asclepius Aten Atira Baboquivari Bacchus Bede Belenus Beltrovata Beowulf Betulia Bivoj Blume Boreas Brucemurray Cacus Cadmus Camarillo Camillo Castalia Cerberus

Cleobulus Cruithne Cuno Cuyo Daedalus Davidaguilar Davidharvey Didymos Dionysus Doloreshill Don Quixote Eger Epona Eric Eros ESA Florence Ganymed Geographos Golevka Gordonmoore Hathor Hephaistos Heracles Hermes Hypnos Icarus Illapa Ishtar Itokawa Ivar Izhdubar Jason Jasonwheeler Kadlu Khufu

Konnohmaru Krok Kwiila Lucianotesi Lugh Lyapunov Magellan Masaakikoyama McAuliffe Mera Midas Minos Mithra Miwablock Mjolnir Nefertiti Nereus Ninkasi Norwan Nut Nyx Ogmios Oljato Ondaatje Orpheus Orthos Oze Pan Pele Peleus Phaethon Pocahontas Poseidon Ptah Pygmalion Quetzalcoatl

Ra-Shalom Rees Rhiannon Robwhiteley Saunders Sekhmet Seleucus Selqet Seneca Sigurd Sisyphus Summanus Syrinx Talos Tanith Tantalus Tara Taranis Tezcatlipoca Tjelvar Tomaiyowit Toro Toutatis Tukmit Ubasti Ul Verenia Vinciguerra Vishnu Wilson-Harrington Xanthus YORP Zao Zephyr Zeus

its name should be from mythology, but the name should not be one associated with creation or underworld themes

Hmmm... the list seems pretty short on beings from Russian/Slavic mythology. My first thought was Кикимора (kee-KEE-more-ah), which is not the proper name of a particular mythic figure, but is VERY roughly translatable as "female house-elf" in the Harry Potter sense.

I like it because (a) it sounds pretty, and (b) as a house-sprite, a kikimora lived in close proximity to humans, and the asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ36 is comparatively near to our own "house," the Earth. (Moreover, although a kikimora is sometimes helpful and protective of the household, when she's in a bad mood she may cause harm -- and there's a small possibility of this asteroid impacting the Earth at some time in the future!)

As far as named deities of Russian paganism, Перун (peh-ROON) is an obvious choice because he's a lightning/thunder god and thus associated with the heavens. On the other hand, he's such a major figure in the pantheon that, possibly, there might be some myths identifying him as a "creation deity," which would disqualify him.

But here's an English-language list of Slavic deities that you might want to consider, rockzmom. Obviously, some might be disqualified because they're too connected with the underworld (like Veles), and others might already be in use for other asteroids.

P.S. Whoops, cancel that "Perun" suggestion... I just checked, and apparently there's already an asteroid (not in the near-Earth-object category) named after him.

What about modern mythology? There is a common believe that someday every one get something that is both stylish and fancy and affordable and versatile and and and ... it is named "apploid"

Баба-Яга is a cute name for an asteroid (she's listed on the wikipedia page Throbert posted). It'd be an upgrade to the ступа she's always cruising around in. Which reminds me of a nice, short Russian joke:

Мама пугает маленького сына:
- Если ты не будешь есть манную кашу, я позову Бабу Ягу!
Сынок в ответ:
-Мам, неужели ты думаешь, что она ee будет есть?!

Throbert McGee, what a great idea and story to go along with it! My daughter had the idea of NOT using a name from Mythology because of the exact reason you gave, the asteroid my hit us! She was thinking of a name from The Hollow Men by T.S. Elliot as in it it has the lines...
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.