For thousands of years, Cardia has been known as the Roman goddess of doorways and transitions, and the guardian of thresholds. On Monday, she joined the celestial ranks of fellow mythical figures such as Mars, Venus and Andromeda.
But Cardia is not a planet or constellation. It resembles a quasar, a very real type of asteroid that appears to be doing a special orbital dance around Earth.
The International Astronomical Union, the organization of scientists charged with giving official names to space objects, chose Cardia through a naming contest that resulted in more than 2,700 entries. The winning name was submitted by Clayton Chilcott, 19, a sophomore from the University of Georgia, who entered the contest as part of an extra credit assignment in an introductory astronomy class.
“I came across Cardia, and when you read the description, it sounds heavenly,” said Chilcot, an accounting and finance major, adding that his “small contribution to science” is now part of the history books.
But after further research, he found Mr. Nasser, who holds a Ph.D. in History of Science from Harvard, I learned that the spot on the label indicating the moon wasn’t technically a moon, but it also wasn’t a moon no The moon as described.
A planet orbits a star, and a moon orbits a planet. The quasars orbit the sun but are close enough to the planets to appear like small moons “doing a double hula hoop in space,” Nasser said.
Mr. Nasser also learned that Zoozve’s real name was not a pile of consonants but merely a misinterpretation by the poster artist: Zoozve was actually 2002-VE. However, he convinced the Astronomical Union, which usually only approves legendary names from culture or literature, to give 2002-VE the name Zoozve.
“It was quite shocking, and it seemed like a little coup, like a little jolt of absurdity into the universe,” Mr. Nasser said.
But Zosvi was not alone. In fact, Earth also had a few quasoons, which were eligible for a name (only one had a non-alphanumeric designation, Kamuwalewa).
“No one seems to care!” Mr. Nasser said. “We care, I care, and a lot of people will care.”
So, in June, Radio Lab and the Union of Astronomers teamed up to find a fittingly legendary name for 2004 GU9, a quasi-moon discovered in 2004 by astronomers. linear The Astronomical Union said in its project in Socorro, New Mexico, that one of its closest approaches to Earth will be in October 2026, when it will be about 18.5 million miles away.
The contest requested names from over 100 different countries. Many participants wrote poignant tales with mythical origins, some from their own cultures and others from oceans away, and what a name like that means to the world. The Union of Astronomers has eliminated duplicate names, names already in use, and “obviously these are not legendary names that people haven’t even tried,” Mr. Nasser said, such as Mooney McMonvis.
Radiolab helped with the assembly Starry painting From astronomers, journalists, teachers, students and even a few nerdy celebrities, including Bill Nye, Penn Badgley and Celia Rose Gooding. The panelists narrowed the list down to seven finalists – Two of them came from the same course at the University of Georgia – Then he released the list to the public.
last Finalists Among them are Bakunawa, a legendary dragon from Philippine folklore who is said to have risen from the ocean to swallow the moon; Ehima, or “Twilight Mother” in Estonian folklore; and Tecciztecatl, the Aztec moon god who once aspired to be the sun.
“It’s really drawing people into science who were saying, ‘No, this isn’t for me,’” said Kelly Blumenthal, director of astronomy outreach at the international group.
Ms. Blumenthal said it would be “a shame” to let the other finalists go to waste, and that the union’s naming group would propose using them in the future.
For Mr. Nasser, the winning name Cardia was ultimately appropriate for the semi-moon: the ancient gatekeeper and protector, the body that must guard us through a time of turmoil and transition.
Mr. Nasser expressed his hope that the naming contest would help people feel “connected to what is bigger than all the chaos that is happening on Earth right now,” he said. “Space is the biggest big picture we have.”