A moon named by typo
A kid’s bedroom poster has convinced the International Astronomical Union to change the name of a moon.
It might not be a moon of Venus but at least it’s got a name: Zoozve. | Poster: Alex Foster
There’s an asteroid, less than one kilometre in diameter, that orbits the Sun on an odd path between the Earth and Mercury. Because it shares its rhythm with Venus, it appears to be the latter’s moon. This ‘quasi-moon’ was given a correct astronomical name according to its date and number: 2002-VE68. But then the confusion began. It was first noticed by the science journalist Latif Nasser, the co-host of the podcast Radiolab. He’d put up a poster in his toddler’s bedroom, but was amazed to see that it gave Venus a moon called ‘Zoozve’. He went hunting for answers, finally contacting the illustrator who had made the poster. The latter had simply misread his own handwriting on a sketch he’d made, turning ‘2002’ into ‘Zooz’. Nasser was so delighted about both the quasi-moon and the typesetting mistake that he applied to the International Astronomical Union to have the moon renamed. And on 5 February 2024, this quasi-moon officially assumed the name ‘Zoozve’ for good.
