After a Naming Contest, Cardea Joins the Celestial Ranks as a Quasi-Moon

For hundreds of years, Cardea has been referred to as the Roman goddess of doors and transitions, a father or mother of thresholds. On Monday, she joined the celestial ranks of fellow mythological figures like Mars, Venus and Andromeda.However Cardea isn’t a planet or a constellation. She is as a quasi-moon — a very-real form of asteroid that seems to be doing a distinct orbital dance round Earth.The World Astronomical Union, the group of scientists charged with awarding authentic names to house gadgets, decided on Cardea thru a naming contest that generated greater than 2,700 entries. The profitable identify was once submitted by means of Clayton Chilcutt, 19, a sophomore from the College of Georgia, who participated within the contest as a part of an additional credit score project in an introductory astronomy elegance.“I got here throughout Cardea, and whilst you learn the outline, it simply sounds celestial,” mentioned Mr. Chilcutt, an accounting and finance primary, including that his “small contribution to science” was once now a part of the historical past books.

Author: OpenAI