Celestial bodies, terrestrial names
Asteroids, also called minor planets, are small, rocky celestial bodies orbiting the Sun and mostly residing in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.
About 66 million years ago, an asteroid called the Chicxulub impactor, named after Chicxulub Pueblo, a town located near the center of the impact crater in Mexico, hit the Earth and caused the extinction of dinosaurs.
In 1801, humanity discovered the first asteroid and named it Ceres after the Roman goddess. With an increasing number of asteroids discovered and the resultant familiarity with their nature, naming conventions moved from a focus on mythology to eventually include even living people. This shift was clearly visible post 1851.
The naming of asteroids is now overseen by the International Astronomical Union and follows a strict convention of date of discovery, location of orbit, along with the inputs of the discoverer.
The IAU maintains a strict standard of inoffensive and non-confusing names that are void of military and political influences, mostly focusing on cultural figures and influences.
Named after rock stars and saints alike!
From all four Beatles members to Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Luciano Pavarotti, and Mozart, many great musicians have lent their names to these fascinating celestial bodies. Even our very own Pandit Jasraj, an Indian classical music pioneer, has the asteroid 2006-VP32, located between Mars and Jupiter, named after him.
In 2016, to mark the 70th birth anniversary of the legendary singer and iconic Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, the asteroid 1991-FM3 was named ‘17473 Freddiemercury’.
There are other famous Indians whose names have been used for asteroid nomenclature – these include mathematical genius S Ramanujan, NASA scientist Professor Jayant Murthy, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, and young Manipuri scientist Dr Guneshwar Thangjam.
One of the most interesting asteroids is ‘5178 Pattazhy’ – named in 2008 after Kerala environmentalist Dr Sainudeen Pattazhy, who is well known for his work showcasing dangers of mobile towers as well exploring the phenomenon of Kerala’s red rain.
June 30 of every year is observed as ‘World Asteroid Day’ in an effort to learn more about asteroids. It was co-founded by the world-famous physicist Dr Stephen Hawking in 2014 to commemorate the Tunguska event of 1908 when an asteroid about 50-60 m wide exploded over Siberia, obliterating 80 million trees over 2150 sq km.
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