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Name Selection of Asteroid 1999 JU3 Target of the Asteroid Explorer 'Hayabusa2'

October 7th, 2015

The asteroid 1999 JU3, a target of the asteroid explorer Hayabusa2, has been named Ryugu.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) conducted a naming proposal campaign between July 22 and August 31, 2015. The result of the careful study of proposed names by the selection panel of pundits is as follows.

1. Selected name: Ryugu

2. Selection reasons

In the Japanese ancient story "Urashima Taro," the main character, Taro Urashima, brought back a casket from the Dragon's palace, or the Ryugu Castle, at the bottom of ocean. The Hayabusa2 will also bring back a capsule with samples, thus the theme of "bringing back a treasure" is common.

Rocks containing water are expected to exist on asteroid 1999 JU3. The name Ryugu also reminds us of water, as Ryugu Castle is under the ocean.

The name is not similar or identical with any other already existing names of planets or asteroids, and there were many entries for this name among suggested names that are related to mythology.

According to the naming rule stipulated by the International Asteroid Union (IAU), the name "is preferably from mythology" and Ryugu fits that rule. Also, there is little concern of infringing the trademark law or any other third party trademarks.

3. Entries

Total number of entries was 7,336. Among them, 30 were for Ryugu. Some similar ones are Ryugujyo (meaning Ryugu Castle) (5 entries), RyuuGuu (5), Ryuguu Ryugujyo and Ryugujou (one entry each).

4. Selection panel members

* Yuichi Takayanagi Director, Tamarokuto Science Center (Chair)
* Jun-ichi Watanabe Vice-Director General, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)
* Yoshio Tsukio Professor Emeritus, the University of Tokyo
* Yuichi Tsuda Hayabusa2 Project Manager, Associate Professor, Department of Space Flight Systems, ISAS/JAXA
* Makoto Yoshikawa Hayabusa2 Mission Manager, Associate Professor, Department of Spacecraft Engineering, ISAS/JAXA

5. Decision process after selection

The selected name was proposed to the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) team of the United States, which had the right to suggest the name for 1999 JU3. The LINEAR team then proposed the name to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which had the final naming right.

The naming of an asteroid usually takes about three months to review. The review process for Ryugu was unprecedentedly quick, and the name has already been published by the IAU Minor Planet Center, which manages the names of asteroids in the solar system, on its Minor Planet Names: Alphabetical List page (www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/MPNames.html).

Provided by JAXA

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