"Torifune" is the new name for asteroid 2001 CC21

The name for asteroid (98943) 2001 CC21, which Hayabusa2 will flyby in July 2026, has been decided as "Torifune!"

The name was selected from everybody's suggestions submitted during the 2001 CC21 Naming Campaign, which ran from December 6, 2023, to May 9, 2024, with assistance from the Children's Selection Committee whose members were elementary and junior high school students. The selected name, Torifune, was then proposed to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) team in the USA who were the discoverers of the asteroid. After a review by the IAU, the new name was officially announced in the WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 4 #13 (issued on September 23, 2024). The bulletin text reads:

(98943) Torifune = 2001 CC21 Discovery: 2001-02-03 / LINEAR / Socorro / 704 Torifune (an abbreviation of Ame-no-torifune) is a god in Japanese mythology. It is also the name of the god's ship, which can travel safely at high speed like a bird and steady as a rock. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft will perform a flyby of this asteroid, and the name expresses the hope that Hayabusa2 will be able to safely conduct the high-speed encounter.

This description was discussed by the nine members of the Children's Selection Committee. The selection team were asked to choose the most appropriate name based on the good understanding they had gained of the Hayabusa2 flyby mission. One challenge was that asteroid 2001 CC21 orbits close to the Earth, and the IAU requires that such near-by asteroids should carry names with a mythological origin. This resulted in a lively discussion and the name Torifune was selected.