“'Arrokoth' is the word for 'sky' from the Powhatan language of native people from the Chesapeake Bay region. Institutions in this region played a prominent role in facilitating the discovery and exploration of this ancient and distant object.” (MPC 118222)
The pronunciation and meaning of the word ‘arrokoth’ are not entirely clear, since the language became extinct at the end of the 18th century, before the studies could be completed. The only record of that word was compiled between 1610 and 1611 by the English writer William Strachey, who had a decent ear but bad handwriting, which greatly hindered the reading of his notes. In 1975, Siebert made the comparison with other Algonquian languages to reinterpret Strachey's annotations, deciphering the words ‘arrokoth’ and ‘arrahgwotuwss’, such as ‘sky’ and ‘clouds’ respectively.
Lori Glaze, director of the Division of Planetary Science at NASA, said that the name Arrokoth means the strength and resistance of the Algonquian indigenous people, from which we have inherited the light that guides all those who seek the meaning and understanding of origins of the universe and the celestial connection of humanity.
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| Binary contact object, in which the two lobes gravitated together, progressively approaching, until they were joined. |
(486958) Arrokoth is a classical dwarf object of the Kuiper belt in 5:6 resonance with Pluto, discovered in June 2014.
It reached the perihelion in July of 1757 (also in November of 1459). It reached the aphelion in May of 1906 (also in September of 1608).
The orbit is located at the center of the Kuiper belt. It has a perihelion of 42.72 AU and an aphelion of 46.44 AU. The semimajor axis is at 44.58 AU. It has an orbital period of 297 years and 243 days. It has an inclination of 2.5º. It has a diameter of about only 36 km (22 km + 15 km).
Stellar occultations occurred in June-July 2017 and in August 2018.
Its discovery came during the search for potential candidates to be explored by the New Horizons probe, after finishing their passage through Pluto. Arrokoth was selected as a target in August 2015, reaching it in January 2019.
Astrologically, Arrokoth is related with search processes that require a subsequent, rather laborious, phase of review and evaluation of the results, as happened during its discovery and during the assignment of its official name.
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| "The Maze Runner" (2014) |
James Dashner, author of the novel "The Maze Runner" (2009), has Arrokoth in Scorpio (2nd Moon-Node House), in semisextile with Pallas in Libra (3rd Moon-Node House); in semisquare with Pluto in Libra (3rd Moon-Node House); and in taotile@15º with the Sun-Mercury-Neptune in Sagittarius (2nd Moon-Node House).
Elena Anaya, actress of the movie "Wonder Woman" (2017), has Arrokoth in Scorpio (1st Moon-Node House) in golden aspect GA2@68º45’ with the Crossing Point of Age Progressions (Signs Horoscope) in Capricorn.
