New minor planet named after B.C. First Nation

Vancouver Island'sTsawout First Nation now has a presence among the stars.

After years of work, Victoria astronomerDave Balamhas pinpointed and named a minor planet in honour of the First Nation.

Tsawout, also known as 402920, is about two kilometres in diameter and is located in our solar system's asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Balamwho has named about four dozen celestial bodies in his career said he named the space rock,Tsawout,partlybecause of his admiration for the First Nation.

"The people of Tsawouthave maintained their traditions all this time, for hundreds of years," said Balam.

"Regardless of famines, floods, starvation or all the bad things that happen to people over the years."

Lights in the sky

Balam said one of the traditional beliefs of the Tsawoutpeople is that when someone dies, they go to the heavens and become lights in the sky.

"These are the eyes of the people looking down upon us. And so now they have yet another,402920Tsawout."

Balampresented a plaque commemorating the new name toHarvey Underwood, Chief oftheTsawout First Nation, during the Canadian Astronomical Society's49th annual conference in Victoria this week.

Before the hundreds of assembled scientists and astronomers, Underwood thanked Balam for his hard work, which began in 2007 when Balam first spotted the asteroid, also known as a minor planet.

Naming a celestial body is much more difficult than people think.

Balam said the familiar practice of "buying" a star and naming it after someone is a scam, asthe name isn't officially cataloguedor recognized by astronomers or any recognized astronomical association.

The criteria for actually naming something in space involves fiveto 20years of precise calculations, he said.

The object's calculated trajectorymust be so well plotted, that if someone set up a telescope in 50 years, they would be able to pinpoint exactly where it was, based onBalam'sprediction.

The object's trajectory projectionmust then be cleared by the International Astronomical Union, before they will accept suggestions for a name.

Balam said he also chose the nameTsawoutbecause his family can trace its lineage back to the community which is one of five bands that constitute the Saanich Nation.

With files from On the Island