Two UGA students finalists in Radiolab contest to name one of Earth's quasi-moons

Though they might not be seen, they can be named – voting is open through Dec. 31.

Asteroids orbiting the sun in a similar path to Earth's, quasi-moons escort our planet on its journey a few centuries at a time. The science podcast Radiolab and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) — the organization that assigns official names to quasi-moons and their surface features — announced a contest earlier this year to name the asteroid (164207) 2004 GU9.

A University of Georgia faculty member incorporated the competition into a class activity in her ASTR 1010 course, when the class was covering the topic of small solar system objects. Amazingly, two of her students' submissions were chosen to be among the seven finalists out of over 2,700 names submitted, from 96 countries. 

Two UGA students, Clayton Chilcutt and Samuel Lashley, were selected as finalists for their proposed names, Cardea and Tarriaksuk. Between now and January 1, the public is encouraged to vote for their favorite. 

Hina Shaikh decided to include the naming initiative by the Radiolab (WNYC/NPR) podcast and the International Astronomical Union as a class activity in her course. The students had complete freedom in their choice of name suggestion submission. 

"We are always trying to find current and relevant examples to connect to our courses," said Shaikh, instructor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of physics and astronomy. "This quasi-moon is a great example of a minor body in our solar system and the timing of its Earth approach was fortunate, because I could use it as a specific example to explain the dynamics of small celestial bodies."

The achievement stemmed from a simple class activity designed to help the students connect ongoing events with what they have learned about the dynamics of small solar system objects and celestial bodies not commonly mentioned in textbooks.

"Being a history buff who likes empires, especially Roman, I decided to do some research on Greco-Roman mythology and after reading several names, I landed on Cardea," said Chilcutt, a sophomore from Douglasville, GA. "Learning and observing astronomy and astrophysics is a hobby of mine and the class was very interesting, and my professor was very knowledgeable and engaging. I learned about quasi moons in class, and this project was extra credit, but to my surprise, it ended up taking off and being something big."

"I debated numerous Roman and Greek names, however, I knew that to stand out I needed to be more creative," said Lashley, a freshman from Watkinsville, GA. "I investigated Aztec, Incan, and even some European mythological sources, but none that truly stood out to me. Then, I came to Inuit mythology, which is filled with many stories of beings very different from those of any other culture. When I discovered the stories of the Tarriaksuk, I believed that their similarities compared to humans could be applied to the moon itself. From there I brainstormed some parallelism between the moon and this Quasi-Moon with an emphasis on the shadows and the short time that it will be with us. Then it was a matter of putting all my thoughts onto paper and making a submission.

"It's simply amazing to have two UGA students in the finals out of thousands of entrants, and I hope can we leverage the power of the Bulldog Nation to turn out the vote for our students' proposed names, Cardea and Tarriaksuk," said Craig Weigert, associate professor of physics and department head.

The Name a Quasi-Moon contest is officially open until January 1, 2025. Cast your vote to name earth’s quasi-moon, currently known as (164207) 2004 GU9.

Image via RadioLab