[meteorite-list] 2004 MN4 - 99942 Apophis

From: Dawn & Gerald Flaherty <grf2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Jul 26 22:02:11 2005
Message-ID: <003701c5924f$25845b70$6502a8c0_at_GerryLaptop>

Yipee for thwarting!!! Even though I'll most likely be "away" but that date.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matson, Robert" <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_saic.com>
To: "'Jeff Grossman'" <jgrossman_at_usgs.gov>;
<meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 2:56 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] 2004 MN4 - 99942 Apophis


> 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
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Received on Tue 26 Jul 2005 10:01:46 PM PDT