[meteorite-list] 2004 MN4 - 99942 Apophis

From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Jul 26 14:56:32 2005
Message-ID: <BE076B8CCE4CFE4D9598230D888B2ADF07C871_at_0005-its-exs01.mail.saic.com>

Hi Jeff and List,

I thought the name was perfect! Here's a detailed explanation by
Dave Tholen (one of the finders) from the Minor Planet Mailing List:

"It's traditional to name Aten-class asteroids after Egyptian gods.
One problem is that [2004] MN4 will become an Apollo-class asteroid
after the 2029 close approach, and Apollo-class asteroids have
traditionally been named after Greek gods. So we went with the
Greek name for an Egyptian god. As we understand it, Apophis is
the Greek name for the Egyptian god Apep, the god of evil and
destruction. Apep was usually thwarted in his destructive efforts,
however."

--Rob
Received on Tue 26 Jul 2005 02:56:16 PM PDT