A bizarre “quasi-moon” of Earth is about to get a reputation — and you may be a part of the method.
Earlier this 12 months, the science podcast Radiolab and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) — the group that assigns official names to celestial our bodies and their floor options — introduced a contest to call the asteroid (164207) 2004 GU9.
That 500-foot-wide (150 meters) house rock is certainly one of our planet’s quasi-moons — a short lived companion that is orbiting the solar in a path much like that of Earth. 2004 GU9 will seemingly be with us for about 600 extra years, then shoot away into the darkish and empty depths of house.
The naming contest has now reached a brand new and thrilling stage: A panel of specialists, together with TV “Science Guy” Bill Nye, has picked seven finalists from a pool of practically 3,000 monikers, which have been submitted by folks in additional than 90 international locations.
Related: Zoozve — the unusual ‘moon’ of Venus that earned its identify accidentally
IAU conventions require that the names of cosmic objects be linked to one of many many mythologies developed by folks across the globe. The seven finalists, and their cultural origins, are:
- Bakunawa (Filipino)
- Cardea (Roman)
- Ehaema (Estonian)
- Enkidu (Sumerian)
- Ótr (Norse)
- Tarriaksuk (Inuit)
- Tecciztecatl (Aztec)
“How fortunate are we that we get to call one thing in house that may outlive us all?!” Radiolab co-host Latif Nasser mentioned in an emailed assertion. “We paired up with the International Astronomical Union to be sure that anybody in the entire world can vote and hopefully discover some surprise and inspiration alongside the best way. Narrowing down the 1000’s of submissions was exhausting, however I am unable to wait to see which identify the world chooses!”
You can study extra in regards to the finalist names, and vote in your alternative, on the contest homepage. Voting will run by Jan. 1, 2025.
The judges who picked the seven finalist names embrace (however aren’t restricted to):
- Bill Nye, science communicator and CEO of The Planetary Society, a space-exploration advocacy organiziation
- Penn Badgley, actor and producer, identified for roles on “Gossip Girl” and “You”
- Celia Rose Gooding, actor who performs Nyota Uhura on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”
- Jacob Pinter, producer and co-host of NASA’s “Curious Universe” podcast
- Moiya McTier, astrophysicist, creator and host of the “Exolore” and “Pale Blue Pod” podcasts
- Salman Hameed, science educator and founder and CEO of Kainaat Studios
- Sofia Rojas, postdoctoral researcher on the University of California, Los Angeles
- Wanda Diaz Merced, astrophysicist and pioneer in sonification, which turns datasets into audible sound
- Sean Carroll, creator and theoretical physicist; Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University
