New Moon in Gemini – June 6, 2024, 12:39 UT
The New Moon at 16+ Gemini is in exact conjunction with Venus and square to Saturn in Pisces. The New Moon is not tightly in conjunction with any of the named distant minor planets. One of the large Kuiper belt objects that are not yet named, (532037) 2013 FY27, is at 17+ degrees of Virgo square to the New Moon and sesquisquare to Pluto in Aquarius. It forms a t-square with Saturn in Pisces, and the triple conjunction of Venus and the lumiaries in Gemini. At the Summer Solstice in two weeks, 2013 FY27 will be square to the Moon in Sagittarius.
2013 FY27 is one of the three largest unnamed objects in the solar system. It is the ninth intrinsically brightest known trans-Neptunian object. It is bigger than Ixion and almost as big as Varda. 2013 FY27 is a scattered disc object like Eris. It is a binary system with two components approximately 740 km and 190 km in diameter.
2013 FY27 was discovered by Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo in March 2013. The orbital period is 448 years. It is currently near its aphelion (the farthest point of its orbit around the Sun), about 80 AU from the Sun. Over time, it will come much closer to Neptune’s neighborhood.
According to the naming rules of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), when the orbit of a minor planet becomes well enough determined so that its position can be reliably predicted into the future, the minor planet receives a permanent designation, a permanent number. The discoverer has the privilege to suggest a name for the body for a period of ten years following the numbering. The permanent number 532037 was assigned for 2013 FY27 five years ago, in May 2019. I hope that the discoverers will make a name proposal soon, unless they already have done so, and this body will get a proper name.
IAU and the science podcast Radiolab have announced a competition to name another unnamed body, one of the quasi-moons of Earth. A quasi-moon is an asteroid that actually orbits the Sun, but if you watch it from the Earth, it looks like it’s orbiting our planet just like the Moon does.
The object in question is (164207) 2004 GU9, an Apollo asteroid discovered on April 13, 2004, near Socorro, New Mexico, by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project (LINEAR). In the discovery chart it was retrograding at 14+ degrees of Leo opposite Neptune in Aquarius and sextile Mars in Gemini.
People worldwide can suggest a name for the quasi-moon between June 1 – September 30. “We’re excited to bring people together around something that unites us across timezones, national borders, languages, and all manner of differences – our shared sky,” said Latif Nasser, co-host of Radiolab.
If you are interested in participating, read more here: