Native Americans Name Asteroid 'Ayló'chaxnim or 'Venus Girl'

On June 7, at Caltech's Palomar Observatory in the forested mountain outside San Diego, members of the Pauma band of indigenous peoples gathered to celebrate the naming of the first known asteroid to circle entirely within the orbit of Venus. The asteroid was originally discovered in 2020 by the Zwicky Transient Facility, or ZTF, which operates at the Palomar Observatory. Sometime after its discovery, the ZTF team decided to ask the Pauma band, whose ancestral lands include the mountainous region where the observatory is located, if they would like to bestow the new cosmic find with a name of their choosing.

By Whitney Clavin

The orbits of Earth, Venus and Mercury, and 'Ayló'chaxnim. Light vertical lines illustrate the 3D orientation of each orbit relative to the main plane of the Solar System. The dots show the exact positions of planets at the time of discovery on January 4, 2020, when both 'Aylóchaxnim and Venus were in the evening sky over Palomar Mountain. (Caltech-IPAC/R. Hurt)