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Thread: Name the Asteroid - play along!

  1. #1
    Завсегдатай rockzmom's Avatar
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    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
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  2. #2
    Завсегдатай Throbert McGee's Avatar
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    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.
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  3. #3
    Старший оракул CoffeeCup's Avatar
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    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"
    So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

  4. #4
    zxc
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    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?!

  5. #5
    Завсегдатай rockzmom's Avatar
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    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.
    I only speak two languages, English and bad English.
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