Title: Naming a Quasi-Moon [MUSIC - Marden Hill: Hijack]

David Furst: Welcome back to The Brian Lehrer Show here on WNYC. I'm David Furst keeping the seat warm for Brian today. We wrap up today's show by taking a brief trip to space. Our colleagues over at Radiolab have spent a lot of time this year pondering what goes on up there beyond the Earth's surface. One astronomical, if I can say the word, entity really caught their attention, quasi-moons. So much so that Latif Nasser, the co-host of Radiolab, successfully got one named Zoozve. Catchy name.

Now, Radiolab has teamed up with the International Astronomical Union to name another moon, and this time the choice is up to listeners. Radiolab fans from across the globe submitted potential names for 2004 GU9, the quasi-moon at the center of this contest, and now only seven names remain in the running. We learn more now about quasi-moons, and the one that shall be named, with Latif from Radiolab, and with Kelly Blumenthal, who is a member of the International Astronomical Union, the other organization hosting the contest. Latif and Kelly, welcome.

Latif: Thanks so much for having us.

David Furst: Latif--

Kelly: Yes, thank you.

David Furst: It's great to have you here. First of all, Latif, what is a quasi-moon, and am I even pronouncing that the right way?

Latif: [laughs] You can pronounce it however you like.

David Furst: Oh, thanks.

Latif: Quasi-moons are also called quasi-satellites, but basically a quasi-moon is a kind of space rock that sort of acts like a moon and sort of doesn't act like a moon. It's smaller and further away from a planet than a moon is, but it does-- It has basically the same orbit around the sun, so it's like the way a moon is to a planet. Like it's a buddy traveling around the sun with you.

David Furst: Is it orbiting that planet?

Latif: This is such a funny thing because from the perspective of the planet, it looks like it's going around you, but it's going around you. If you can think of two race cars going on a race track together, sometimes one's a little faster, sometimes one's a little slower. From the car, it looks like the other car is going around you, but really it's going around the track just like you are.

David Furst: I feel like I'm getting more confused as we move along. [laughs]

Latif: Maybe Kelly can explain it better than me.

David Furst: Kelly?

Kelly: Yes. I like to think about it like leapfrog. If you're moving while you're playing leapfrog, it might look like the person who is jumping over you is moving around you, but you're actually just moving in the same direction. That's what the asteroid is doing around the sun and then it looks like around the Earth.

David Furst: It's fascinating, whether it's a race car or a leapfrog. Latif, how did the existence of quasi-moons grab your attention?

Latif: Well, randomly almost. I was putting my kid to bed one night. We had a solar system poster that we bought off the internet on his wall, and I noticed that Venus on this poster had a moon. I was like, "That's weird. I didn't think Venus had a moon," and Venus doesn't have a moon. The poster designer had found this list of moons online that had included a quasi-moon, a Venus quasi-moon, and had put it on this poster. It took me a long time to figure out what is this extra dot on this poster and why is it here? Is someone lying to my kid? What is going on?

It got me to the bottom of like, "Does Venus have a moon or doesn't it?" Then it has this object that is sort of like a moon, sort of not. This paradoxical object, it totally-- I fell in love with it. That object around Venus, that object, the name of it is 2002 VE. The poster designer had also made almost like a typo, misread his own handwriting, so he wrote it as Z-O-O-Z-V-E, so the 2s as Z's. There was this object, Zoozve, on this poster that didn't exist. That I couldn't find anywhere. Then ultimately, after we got so obsessed with it, I petitioned the IAU, where Kelly works, to officially rename it after this typo.

David Furst: Let the typo set it in, make it permanent.

Latif: That's right. Someone told me it's the furthest anyone has ever gone to correct a typo on a poster probably.

David Furst: [laughs] Well, first of all, very detailed poster, and great of you to notice. Kelly, can you tell us a little bit more about this other quasi-moon, 2004 GU9? The one that is at the center of the naming contest. Where in the universe is it located and how does that one function?

Kelly: Well, the quasi-moon that we are going to name is a near-Earth asteroid, which means it's an asteroid that hangs out near the Earth. It's not too far away from us, but that's okay. We know its orbit really well. There is no danger of it coming in a dangerous distance to the Earth, so nobody needs to worry about that. It'll be around for about 600 years, and after that point, it'll go along on its merry way around the Solar System. I could tell you maybe a little bit about the surface of the quasi-moon.

David Furst: Absolutely.

Kelly: We think that all asteroids probably have maybe a different kind of surface features based on what kind of asteroid they are, where they are in the Solar System, and those kind of things. How they formed in their history, like anything in life and the universe. Most asteroids, we think, are probably covered in this dirt-like substance called regolith. Then some of them have lots of boulders that are on the surface, some of them have just little pebbles. We've actually been able to go to some asteroids and take a look at them up close.

One of them we even landed on and took some pieces back with us. That was the Hayabusa2 lander that went to the Ryugu asteroid, took a few samples back. You can actually go to a museum - I think there's one in London, there's one here in Japan - where you can actually look at the little dust grain from the asteroid.

David Furst: Kelly, you're in Japan. Tell us where you are right now.

Kelly: Well, right now I am in Mitaka in Tokyo, which is where the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan is. That's where I work. I'm the director of the Office for Astronomy Outreach. That's a joint project between the IAU and the NAOJ.

David Furst: Can you tell us what time of day it is there? Is this a typical time of day for you to be up and working, given your profession?

Kelly: Yes. Actually this is a pretty typical time for me, so it's not too bad. It's 1:51 in the morning for me on Saturday morning, but I assure you this is not the worst meeting that I've had. Thank you.

[laughter]

David Furst: I'm glad it's not the worst. Thank you very much for making time for us in the middle of the night or very early in the morning for you. Listeners, unfortunately, it is too late to add your submission for the contest to name 2004 GU9, but give us your best names for a quasi-moon or maybe even vote for your favorite name. You can call or text us, 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692.

Latif, 2004 GU9 already has a name, right? I'm saying its name, so why does it need another? After that, how does an astronomical object get named?

Latif: I guess the answer to your two questions are related. That name that you're saying, it's almost like an auto-generated license plate or something. It was discovered in 2004, which is why it starts with 2004, and it's basically based on when it's discovered. It gets that automatic name, like a license plate or a Social Security number or something. For me, I think the reason why we should name it is it's like it's going to be our buddy for the next 600 years. It's in our neighborhood here.

David Furst: So we should be on a first-name basis?

Latif: Yes, I think so. We're close enough. We're close enough that we ought to name this thing. I think also it's a fun thing we can all do together. That's why we tried to make a giant global contest out of this. We've already got engagement in nearly 100 countries. It does seem like a fun project that we can all do together and that makes us all together look at the sky and learn some things.

David Furst: Yes. Get involved with citizen science and be aware of what's all around us.

Latif: That's right. That's exactly right.

David Furst: Tell us about the names. Is it down to seven?

Latif: Yes. We got something like 2,700 name-

David Furst: Oh my goodness.

Latif: -submissions from all over the world.

David Furst: Let's not go through all of them.

Latif: [laughs] Okay. We're going to go one at a time. No. We recruited this all-star panel from all across the world to help us whittle it down. We narrowed it down to seven finalists. One of the criteria is that it has to be a mythological name. They're names from all sorts of different mythologies. There's one from Philippine folklore. There's one that's Norse. There's one that's Inuit. There's one that's Estonian, Aztec. They're all kinds of different cultures and all sorts of beautiful stories behind them that all have a resonance with this strange rock out there and its strange orbit.

David Furst: I guess if you set the parameters that way too, you prevent someone from sending in a classic contest name like Boaty McBoatface or Mooney McMoonface or something.

Latif: For the record, I like Mooney McMoonface, but I think that there's-- With the IAU, and Kelly can talk to this, they're the official namers of everything in the Solar System-

David Furst: I see.

Latif: -and there's a tradition, just the same way that Mars or Pluto-- these were all gods from folklore, so they're keeping to that tradition.

David Furst: Well, Kelly, I want to hear more about the rules. I can tell you we're getting some texts about some possible names for the quasi-moon. Someone says it should be called Quasi Mundo. There you go.

Latif: Great. Love that.

David Furst: [chuckles] Kelly, what are the rules?

Kelly: That's an excellent name.

David Furst: That is an excellent name. I agree.

Kelly: [laughs] I was laughing a lot at Mooney McMoonface.

David Furst: Oh, good. What are the rules, Kelly, for naming an astronomical object? Are some names automatically disqualified for one reason or another?

Kelly: Well, I'm sure if there's a very inappropriate name it would be automatically disqualified, but usually they like to think about everything that's gets sent to them. There are so many rules for every different kind of astronomical object. Even different kinds of asteroids, depending on their orbits, have different rules. For asteroids that are near the Earth, the orbit has to be very well known. We have to be able to predict its orbit for a few hundred years.

The discoverer then has 10 years to name the object, if they want to. If it's unnamed beyond that, then it's open for suggestions from the public. Then once it's named, you have to write a short description that describes the name and why it's named that. For objects that are near the Earth, they have to be mythological in origin. It's different for, like I said, different kinds of objects. Trojans have to be related to the Trojan mythologies and things along those lines. They have kind of like a display of different mythologies and themes that they have throughout the Solar System that they want to adhere to and make sure that everything is consistent with that.

David Furst: Well, Latif and Kelly, I hope I'm not breaking your process of revealing this information, but can you talk about some of the names that have made it into the finals? Maybe a backstory of a name that you really like?

Latif: Sure, I can do it. Kelly, do you want to do it?

Kelly: You go first.

Latif: Okay. I'll do one. One that I like a lot, it's called Odr. It's from Norse mythology. It's a shape-shifting dwarf who sometimes is a dwarf and sometimes is an otter. It's a playful, almost mischievous kind of like a-- Like someone who's somewhere between the human and the wild realm. This in-between figure.

David Furst: That's great.

Latif: That is fun because it-- yes, it echoes the way that this thing is sort of a moon and sort of not a moon.

David Furst: We're sort of out of time at the same time. Very quickly, Latif, when will listeners know which name won?

Latif: Voting is open. Anyone can go vote at radiolab.org/moon until the end of the month at the end of the year, and very early in January we're going to announce the winner.

David Furst: Okay. That website once again?

Latif: Radiolab.org/moon.

David Furst: Okay. It is time to return back to Earth. Our guests were Latif Nasser, co-host of Radiolab from WNYC, and Kelly Blumenthal joining us in the middle of the night from the International Astronomical Union. Thank you for joining us.

Latif: Thank you so much.

Kelly: Thank you.

David Furst: You have been listening to The Brian Lehrer Show here on WNYC. I'm David Furst. Have a great weekend, everybody, and thank you for listening.

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