The Full Moon was in Gemini in an exact conjunction with a large trans-Neptunian object nicknamed “Buffy”. Mercury is the ruler of Gemini, and it was stationary in the opposing sign Sagittarius, about to turn direct.

“Buffy” – officially known as (612911) 2004 XR190 – is a strange object discovered 20 years ago (Dec. 11, 2004) by Lynne Allen as part of the Canada-France Ecliptic Plane Survey (CFEPS). At the time of the discovery “Buffy” was in Gemini opposite the Moon and retrograding Mercury in Sagittarius. The discovery was announced in December 2005.

“Buffy” is an extended scattered disc object with the orbital period of more than 433 years. It has an estimated diameter of 335 to 850 kilometers. What makes “Buffy” so unusual is the orbit, which is difficult for scientists to explain using previous theories of the formation of the outer solar system. “Buffy” is a kind of a hybrid.

Side view of Buffy’s orbit. (Image: Wikipedia)

The orbit is unusually circular for a scattered disc object and the body never comes closer than 50 AU. The other objects discovered beyond that distance have non-circular orbits because of the gravitational influence of Neptune. In addition, it has a high inclination of almost 47° with respect to the ecliptic. The object is the largest object with an inclination larger than 45°. The discoverers nicknamed 2004 XR190 as “Buffy” after the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because it is possibly going to be a theory slayer, as they explained.

The object was numbered in January 2024, which means that its orbit is well enough determined for reliably predicting the position far into the future. “Buffy” can be officially named now. The team has proposed several Inuit-based official names to the International Astronomical Union.

The Sabian symbol for the discovery chart’s ascendant is Virgo 1 A man’s head. The Sabian symbol for the discovery chart’s MC is Gemini 2 Santa Claus filling stockings furtively. Perhaps they offer clues for the meaning of the object. Christmas is near so announcing the official name would be a nice gift from the IAU.