Select your favourite South African asteroid name

The second round of the national Name Our Asteroid competition is already well under way. The top five names from over 100 submissions by young South Africans have already been selected, and the public at large is now invited to vote for their favourite name! Voting is online, open to everyone and all those who take part in this voting process will be entered into a lucky draw. The top five are Ubuntu, Jabulani, Mzanzi, Ilitye, and Isiqobo, and so far 240 votes have been polled. The youth who submitted the name with the most online votes will be declared the overall competition winner. Voting closes on the 31st of January.The asteroid was discovered by Dr. Amanda Gulbis from the S.A. Astronomical Observatory and currently has the very uninspiring designation “Asteroid 202373“. Like many other asteroids it is a rock of roughly 1 to 5 km in size, and orbiting around the sun at a distance of about 500 million km. The meaning of the top five names, as well as motivations, can be found on the competition webpage, www.nameourasteroid.org.za, including the competition rules and further information. The competition 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! The overall winner will also have the distinction of having their name attached to this remote piece of rock hurtling around the sun at nearly 60 000 km per hour. The online voting lucky draw prize is a SALT/SAAO gift hamper. Astronomers at the observatory have also produced a teacher’s 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.Dr. Enrico A. OlivierS.A. Astronomical ObservatoryTel: (021) 447 0025Fax: (021) 447 3639Email: olivier@saao.ac.za