The international organization responsible for naming asteroids plans to name three space rocks in memory of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the United Airlines flight 93 hijacking.
The plan, which has not been detailed publicly but was explained to SPACE.com, would involve names that officials hope will resonate with a world struck by the tragedy and grieving its victims.
"We're trying to be positive, use names that would be positive, in what is after all a terribly negative situation," said Brian Marsden, an asteroid researcher and secretary of the International Astronomical Union's Committee for Small Body Nomenclature.
He would not divulge the names.
The idea grew out of suggestions on an internet e-mail newsletter called the Minor Planet Mailing List in which professional and amateur astronomers had been discussing the idea of naming an asteroid for each of the victims, now thought to number some 6,000 or more.
There are currently 29,074 known "minor planets," mostly asteroids and a handful of comets and other objects. Of those, only 8,830 have been named, leaving 20,244 that are numbered but not yet named.
Asteroids, most of which orbit the Sun in a wide swath of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, have been named for rock stars, classical musicians, politicians and even cities and countries. There is a strict process involved, overseen by the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature.
An asteroid name must be 16 characters or less. In proposing a name, a submitter (typically the discoverer) must supply by a brief, four-line explanation for why the name deserves to be on the list. An international group of 13 volunteers reviews and judges each entry.
Given the process, only about 100 asteroids are named each month. Meanwhile, the pace of discovery is torrid: More than 1,000 newly found asteroids are catalogued and numbered each month, and the quantity grows as telescopes improve and more resources are devoted to the task.
Marsden said naming an asteroid for each victim would be highly impractical for several reasons. For one thing, it would put a tremendous burden on the 13 volunteers who make up the judging committee and would have to study each application.
Second, he said uncertainties on the list would make it very difficult to be sure each victim in fact was properly awarded an asteroid and that no asteroids were mistakenly named after terrorists or others who were possibly missing but not dead. Officials involved in counting victims have said the list is not entirely accurate, and it has changed frequently as more information is gathered.
The Committee for Small Body Nomenclature hopes to finalize the proposal soon and announce it Oct. 2.
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