Jakarta –
Recently two scientists from Natural History Museum England was given an unusual honour. How could they not, both of them ‘earned’ an asteroid with their respective names.
Quoted from the official website, these two scientists are Dr. Helena Bates with the asteroid 28994 Helenabates and Dr. Ashley King with the asteroid 31551 Ashleyking. Helena and Ashley are experts in the study of meteorites and asteroids that now have celestial bodies with their names.
But is it possible to name asteroids with personal names? It turns out that it can as long as it meets the terms and conditions that apply, here’s the explanation.
Asteroid Search
If detikers want to have an asteroid with a personal name, the first step that must be done is to look for it. Asteroids can be searched with various telescopes such as radio telescopes or the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes.
Astronomers can detect the presence of asteroids, which are increasing in number over time. Helena explained that space contains stars that appear static, but not asteroids.
“Asteroids move from one moment to the next. By comparing one telescope to another, astronomers can identify where the object is orbiting,” he said quoted from the official website Natural History Museum.
When it is found, further analysis is needed using radio waves and other wavelengths. This step is necessary to find out more about its characteristics such as size and shape.
Once identified, each asteroid is assigned a number to identify it and given a name.
Naming Asteroids
Asteroids were first discovered in the 1800s. At that time asteroids were easy to name because they generally used the names of mythological figures.
But now, there are more than 24,000 asteroids and minor planets that have been named. The naming was done from various things.
Examples include celebrity names like William Shatner, fictional characters like Bilbo Baggins, and even pets. One of the criteria for an asteroid to be named private is that the individual is respected.
The agency that takes care of naming asteroids to become official is the International Astronomical Union which contains 15 scientists. They will vote for each new asteroid name.
Not arbitrarily, this institution has a strict set of rules. The official name will be published in the WGSBN bulletin.
Some Asteroid Naming Restrictions
Asteroids cannot be named after business names, controversial figures or other generic terms. However, some asteroids that have brand names are still allowed, because they were present before the new rules like now. An example is 21388 Swissair which is named after the airline.
Also, an asteroid name can be rejected if it doesn’t fit a certain theme. For example, asteroids found in the same orbit as Jupiter must be named after figures from the Trojan War or athletes from the Olympic and Paralympic Games, otherwise these names will be rejected.
Even so, in general most of the asteroids are named by scientists. This is done so that people can recognize their work.
The discovery of asteroids does have a huge impact on science on Earth. For example, there is the Ryugu asteroid which was obtained from the Hayabusa 2 mission.
This asteroid reveals more about how the solar system formed. So that with other asteroids that will be brought to Earth through other space exploration missions, facts that might be shocking can be found.
Watch Video “NASA Beware of Giant Asteroids That Will Pass Earth”
(does/does)
2023-07-17 13:30:00
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