Travelling to the Kalahari in a spaceship

That's exactly what future space travellers might just do. That's of course if “Kalahari” is the winning name of South Africa's “Name our Asteroid” competition. The competition, which is open to all those aged 18 and under, and residing in South Africa, has seen different names, ranging from “Astro-Nine” commemorating the International Year of Astronomy, to “Ubuntu” and “Kalahari”.

The deadline for the competition, Friday 11 December 2009, is fast approaching and by February 2010 the asteroid discovered by Dr. Amanda Gulbis from the S.A. Astronomical Observatory will have a name. Currently the asteroid has the rather uninspiring designation “Asteroid 202373“, and like many other asteroids is a rock of roughly 1 to 5 km in size, and orbiting around the sun at a distance of about 500 million km.

After the December deadline, 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! Furthermore the winner will have the distinction of having their chosen name attached to this remote piece of rock hurtling around the sun at nearly 60 000 km per hour.

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 teacher’s pack about asteroids for primary and high school educators as well as a classroom activity pack for high schools. These can be downloaded from the official competition website or requested from the SAAO.

For more details contact: Dr. Enrico Olivier on (021) 460 9313