Nationwide competition to officially name an asteroid

As the International Year of Astronomy 2009 draws to a close, young people living in South Africa are invited to participate in a nationwide competition to name an asteroid. The competition, run by the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), opens on the 6th November 2009 and individuals or groups aged 18 and under from across the country are invited to submit a name with supporting reasons before the deadline on 11th December 2009. This is a unique opportunity for our youth to name this lump of rock which is hurtling around the Sun at 16.5 km/s! The top five names will be chosen by a selection committee and posted online in January 2010 for public voting. The final winner will be announced in February 2010 and will win a portable telescope, powerful enough to see the craters on the Moon, Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s moons and much more!Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) astronomer Dr Amanda Gulbis, who is based at the South African Astronomical Observatory, discovered the asteroid in 2005 as part of a team searching for cold icy bodies called Kuiper Belt Objects which reside in the outskirts of our solar system. It was her decision to invite young South Africans to name the asteroid on her behalf. "I chose to donate the naming to young people in South Africa as it is a really great way to get people involved in astronomy who aren't usually, and selecting a name is something which is really personal. As I now live in South Africa I wanted to include my local community. South Africa has such a developing astronomy presence, what with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and the Karoo Array (radio) Telescope (MeerKAT) (both of which are located in the Northern Cape near the towns of Sutherland and Carnarvon respectively). Unfortunately, many people are still unaware that South Africa is a key player in astronomy. Hopefully this competition will draw attention to the world class research and facilities we have here."The asteroid, currently designated Asteroid 202373 while it awaits an official name, was discovered "seredipitously" as part of the "Deep Ecliptic Survey", a survey specifically designed to find small objects far out in our solar system beyond Neptune. In order to find the asteroid, Dr Gulbis inspected numerous data frames by eye to search for objects which had moved between frames against the fixed background of stars. Asteroid 202373 is her third discovery to date, and she named her first asteroid in honour of her parents. At present not much is known about Asteroid 202373 except that it orbits the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt. Assuming it is like most other asteroids it is composed of carbonaceous rock and roughly 1 to 5 km in size.Further information and competition rules can be found at the official competition website www.nameourasteroid.org.za. Astronomers at the observatory have also produced a teachers pack about asteroids for primary and high school educators and a classroom activity pack for high schools. These can be downloaded from the official competition website or requested from the SAAO. Enquiries may be directed to Jun Takahashi via email at asteroid(at)saao.ac.za or to Dr Enrico Olivier on 021 447 0025. Further details about the survey in which the discovery was made can be found at http://www.lowell.edu/Research/DES/.