The task of actually naming a celestial body is more complicated than many think. But this year a First Nation band had a small planet named after them.
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In 2007, Victoria, BC astronomer Dave Balam found an asteroid that was decreed a minor planet. It proved to be 2 kilometers in diameter and hangs out in the asteroid belt in our solar system between Mars and Jupiter. This is not Balam’s first asteroid/small planet naming. He’s named 4 so far.
The criteria for actually naming something in space involves five to 20 years of precise calculations, he said.
The object's calculated trajectory must be so well plotted, that if someone set up a telescope in 50 years, they would be able to pinpoint exactly where it was, based on Balam's prediction.
The object's trajectory projection must then be cleared by the International Astronomical Union, before they will accept suggestions for a name.
The minor planet’s new name was announced at the Canadian Astronomy Society’s 49th annual conference. Minor Planet 402920 is now also known as Tsawout. Balem presented a plaque commemorating the new name to Harvey Underwood, chief of the Tsawout First Nation at the conference.
Why did he name it after a First Nation tribe?
Balam said one of the traditional beliefs of the Tsawout people is that when someone dies, they go to the heavens and become lights in the sky.
"These are the eyes of the people looking down upon us. And so now they have yet another, 402920 Tsawout."
And because Balam can trace his family’s lineage back to one of the five bands that make up the Tsawout Nation.