Below are asteroid names which have appeared in the Minor Planet Center list today.

These objects’ positions can be found on the Ephemeris or Chart pages above, by entering the minor planet number in the Additional Objects field.

(7959) Alysecherri
(181483) Ampleforth
(13039) Awashima
(12709) Bergen op Zoom
(6610) Burwitz
(15332) CERN
(189202) Calar Alto
(10803) Careyo
(17428) Charleroi
(100675) Chuyanakahara
(94291) Django
(10726) Elodie
(12916) Eteoneus
(174801) Etscorn
(163626) Glatfelter
(6642) Henze
(159827) Keithmullen
(178803) Kristenjohnson
(73670) Kurthopf
(132798) Kurti
(9162) Kwiila
(58605) Liutungsheng
(142368) Majden
(123290) Manoa
(7527) Marples
(132820) Miskotte
(100309) Misuzukaneko
(12169) Munsterman
(142014) Neirinck
(151430) Nemunas
(189011) Ogmios
(12810) Okumiomote
(12166) Oliverherrmann
(12167) Olivermuller
(11681) Ortner
(6659) Pietsch
(144752) Plunge
(12168) Polko
(177982) Popilnia
(96189) Pygmalion
(185633) Rainbach
(179678) Rietmeijer
(12165) Ringleb
(143641) Sapello
(161546) Schneeweis
(7174) Semois
(149528) Simonrodriguez
(45299) Stivell
(126578) Suhhosoo
(10171) Takaotengu
(172425) Taliajacobi
(133753) Teresamullen
(11500) Tomaiyowit
(7648) Tomboles
(12711) Tukmit
(129595) Vand
(175208) Vorbourg
(61400) Voxandreae
(176103) Waynejohnson
(150035) Williamson
(80801) Yiwu
(10837) Yuyakekoyake
(175636) Zvyagel

If you like a bit of Centaur astrology there’s an interesting opposition across the nodes at the moment. Yesterday the Sun exactly conjoined the Centaur Elatus on the South Node, opposing Chiron and asteroid Damocles on the North Node.

The Chiron-Elatus opposition is a significant outer planet aspect of our time. These two Centaurs have been in opposition since 2003 and the aspect will continue until 2015, so transiting all the way from mid Capricorn-Cancer to late Pisces-Virgo (aspect history here). It’s obviously now emphasised having hit the Nodes and the Sun. Chiron has an orbital period of just over 50 years, Elatus 40 years, and this is their only period of opposition between the years 1500 and 2099 (which is as far as my ephemeris goes at the moment).

There are some confused versions of the Elatus myth around, probably because there are at least six characters named Elatus in Greek myth (ref), including one Lapith prince (father of Caenea/Caeneus) and one Centaur, both of whom are mentioned in the stories of the Lapiths and the Centaurs. Only one of them was a Centaur though, and we know which one the discoverers intended by their own description of Elatus here:

The name of the centaur Elatus is associated with woodlands and means “fir man”, perhaps because he used to pull up whole fir trees and use them as weapons. During a battle with Hercules, Elatus was killed by a poisoned arrow that passed through his arm and continued to wound Chiron in the knee.

So he was directly, if unconsciously, involved in the incident where Chiron got his famous wound, which happened during the fight that all the Centaurs piled into with Heracles over Pholus’s wine; Elatus was the guy Heracles was aiming for. Neither of them intended to harm Chiron. The version of the story which specifies Elatus as the Centaur involved is the one by Apollodorus:

Herakles asked for wine, but Pholos said that he was afraid to open the cask which was owned jointly by the Kentauroi. But Herakles told him not to worry, and opened the cask himself. Shortly thereafter, picking up the smell of the wine, the Kentauroi appeared at Pholos� cave, armed with rocks and clubs of silver fir. The first two who ventured in, by name Ankhios and Agrios, Herakles turned back with a volley of fire-brands; he sent arrows after the others and chased them as far as Malea. There they took refuge with Kheiron, who, after the Lapiths had driven him from Mount Pelion, settled on Malea. Herakles let loose an arrow at the Kentaroi as they huddled round Kheiron, which penetrated the arm of Elatos and landed in Kheiron�s knee. In horror Herakles ran to him, pulled out the arrow and dressed the wound with a salve that Kheiron handed him. The festering wound was incurable, however, and Kheiron moved into his cave, where he yearned for death, but could not die because he was immortal.

Looking at the Elatus discovery chart, you could say that fogginess and confusion abound; Jupiter in the last degree of Aries exactly squares Neptune at 1+ Aquarius, which is exactly sextile Mercury in the last degree of Scorpio. The anaretic degrees presumably emphasise the hard-to-get-a-handle-on feeling in an already cloudy atmosphere.

Working with Elatus in charts, the art of communication is a theme commonly picked up by astrologers for this object, and that anaretic Scorpio Mercury, sextile Neptune, seems to sum up the challenges involved. Centaurs tend to be about deep transformative processes of learning, evolution and integration, usually involving challenges. In its highest form I think Elatus is about communicating that which is deeply felt and comes through you, echoing the arrow passing straight through him in the myth, changing him as it does so. This is really all you can do with anything that comes from Neptune, where words are inadequate. The struggle comes when you try to do it the other way round; the frustrating process of grasping for the right words which seem out of reach, struggling to express yourself, not making yourself understood etc. You could look at it as a lesson about getting your ego out of the way, in this case to allow inspiration to come, for which you can take no credit. It seems to me that all the Centaurs have this same basic lesson, taught through their very different paths. I think Elatus could relate to learning through the whole creative process in that way, and the phenomenon of affecting others by it in ways you’ll never know. Overall, Elatus reminds me of this collage by Via Keller, What Words Can’t Say.

Looking at famous charts featuring Elatus, we can see the whole spectrum of the learning curve; a few people who are known (fairly or not) for their ineptitude with words, a few poets, and a lot of politicians. Pallas is on the North Node of the discovery chart with Elatus himself squaring it, and varying degrees of success with political rhetoric does seem to be a common manifestation of his process.

I’ve posted a page here with some examples of charts where Elatus makes exact aspects within one degree to the inner planets, angles or nodes.

A daily astrology events list including minor planets is available on this page every day. It shows you all exact aspects for the Classical Planets, named Centaurs, named TNOs (now including Makemake), Eris, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Eros, Psyche, Galactic Center & Great Attractor. Sign changes, stations, eclipses, occultations, Moon phases, and Mercury shadow dates are also shown. Full listings for the year are given on the aspectarians page. Today’s list is below:

Friday 8th August 2008 (UT Now is 09:14:52)

Current Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent (11 sc 4′19″)

Planet, Centaur, TNO, Asteroid Aspects

08:49:03 UT - Venus (2 vi 41′17″) opposite Teharonhiawako (2 pi 41′17″ Rx)
09:40:28 UT - Juno stations direct (13 sa 59′39″)
13:53:05 UT - Neptune (23 aq 2′10″ Rx) opposite Eros (23 le 2′10″)
19:20:00 UT - Ceres (25 cn 13′19″) sextile Thereus (25 ta 13′19″)
19:47:13 UT - Mercury (26 le 58′44″) trine Galactic Center (26 sa 58′44″)
20:20:14 UT - First Quarter Moon - Sun (16 le 38′25″) square Moon (16 sc 38′25″)
23:17:43 UT - Makemake (23 vi 24′10″) conjunct Mars (23 vi 24′10″)

Aspects of the Moon

01:08:04 UT - Moon (6 sc 58′26″) conjunct Huya (6 sc 58′26″)
04:19:05 UT - Moon (8 sc 35′ 4″) sextile Saturn (8 vi 35′ 4″)
04:38:42 UT - Moon (8 sc 44′59″) opposite Asbolus (8 ta 44′59″)
05:33:00 UT - Moon (9 sc 12′25″) trine Borasisi (9 pi 12′25″ Rx)
09:33:34 UT - Moon (11 sc 13′44″) opposite Vesta (11 ta 13′44″)
12:06:47 UT - Moon (12 sc 30′51″) square Nessus (12 aq 30′51″ Rx)
12:35:15 UT - Moon (12 sc 45′10″) sextile Okyrhoe (12 vi 45′10″)
13:19:49 UT - Moon (13 sc 7′34″) sextile Typhon (13 vi 7′34″)
15:00:50 UT - Moon (13 sc 58′18″) sextile Jupiter (13 cp 58′18″ Rx)
16:55:31 UT - Moon (14 sc 55′51″) conjunct Psyche (14 sc 55′51″)
20:20:14 UT - Moon (16 sc 38′25″) square Sun (16 le 38′25″)

I also produce a custom aspectarian for Planet Waves, which gives you the minor aspects (including septiles) and more asteroids; this is published daily in the Planet Waves Astrology Blog.

Astrology research is one delineation method … Some left-brain fodder.

Makemake Through the Signs

This shows the year Makemake first enters one astrology sign (tropical, geocentric), to the year he first enters the next sign. Because he’s very slow, orbital period just over 306 years, it takes at least a couple of years of retrograding back out and in over a sign cusp before he changes signs for good. To see full details of those ins and outs for any particular sign change, click the links.

Gemini : 1603 - 1627

Cancer : 1627 - 1653

Leo : 1654 - 1681

Virgo : 1681 - 1710

Libra : 1710 - 1742

Scorpio : 1742 - 1777

Sagittarius : 1777 - 1809

Capricorn : 1809 - 1835

Aquarius : 1835 - 1854

Pisces : 1854 - 1870

Aries : 1870 - 1887

Taurus : 1887 - 1907

Gemini : 1907 - 1930

Cancer : 1930 - 1957

Leo : 1957 - 1984

Virgo : 1984 - 2013

Libra : 2013 - 2044

Some Contemporary Aspects

Please click on the links for full details of the dates and times of the aspect history.

Makemake square Pluto

Virgo to Sagittarius 2002 - 2004

Makemake opposite Uranus

Occurring now and last occurred 1891 - 1894 (Taurus to Scorpio)

Makemake conjunct Saturn

Will be exact in Virgo in September 2009

Last occurred in Leo in 1977

Cancer in 1945

Gemini in 1913

Some Astrology charts with Significant Makemake Aspects Within One Degree

Billy Graham
Makemake (15 ge 23′42″ Rx) conjunct Mean South Node (14 ge 34′52″ Rx)

Kurt Cobain
Makemake (9 le 27′44″ Rx) square True Node (9 ta 34′51″ Rx)

Tiger Woods
Makemake (20 le 26′30″ Rx) square true Node (20 sc 55′37″ Rx)

Frida Kahlo
Makemake (0 ge 41′39″) conjunct Moon (29 ta 42′43″)

Cesar Chavez
Makemake (23 ge 40′ 5″) square Moon (22 pi 46′26″)

George W. Bush
Makemake (17 cn 6′ 7″) square Moon (16 li 42′21″)

USA Sibley Chart
Makemake (27 sc 45′ 1″ Rx) square Moon (27 aq 10′17″)

Rush Limbaugh
Makemake (22 cn 14′37″ Rx) opposite Sun (21 cp 33′20″)

Thomas Midgeley (no birth time)
Makemake (2 ta 47′ 5″) conjunct Venus (2 ta 58′26″ Rx)

Michael J. Fox
Makemake (2 le 46′24″) square Venus (2 ta 57′34″)

Placido Domingo
Makemake (10 cn 34′23″ Rx) opposite Venus (9 cp 57′55″)

Salvador Dali
Makemake (25 ta 6′23″) conjunct Mars (25 ta 10′52″)

Johannes Kepler
Makemake (7 ar 28′56″) opposite Mars (8 li 16′32″)

Xanana Gusmao
Makemake (16 cn 43′ 1″) square Jupiter (17 li 30′12″)

Bruce Springsteen
Makemake (21 cn 59′58″) opposite Jupiter (22 cp 22′58″)

Marlon Brando
Makemake (20 ge 7′ 2″) opposite Jupiter (19 sa 53′47″)
Makemake (20 ge 7′ 2″) square MC (20 vi 32′ 3″)

General Data

Mythology here and here

Summary of discovery and naming circumstances on Planet Waves here

Orbital period 306.74 years

Discovery date: 31st March 2005

Discovery position: 20+ Virgo

Provisional designation: 2005 FY9

Minor planet number: 136472

Orbit diagram here

Online astrology ephemeris including Makemake here

Makemake aspectarian to end of 2008 here

NASA JPL database page on Makemake here

The discoverer’s blog, Mike Brown.

Philip Sedgwick’s initial ideas on Makemake delineation.

A lot of Makemake research has already been posted to the Centaurs (Zane Stein) and Centaurs2 (Mark Andrew Holmes) egroups, where there are many astrologers who’ve studied the object since well before it was named.

Makemake gets involved in the astrology this week, making his first major aspects since being named.

Mars opposite Uranus is exact on Wednesday, and Makemake is conjunct Mars for this event (his exact conjunction with Mars follows on Friday). Here’s a minor planet chart showing Makemake’s position at the exact time of the Mars-Uranus opposition on Wednesday, across 22+ Virgo-Pisces.

Currently at 23+ Virgo, Makemake also gets an exact sextile from Ceres in Cancer this morning, which is of interest because they both have fertility, harvest and the provision of food as themes in their mythologies. Ceres is a fertility goddess, the goddess of the harvest, and Makemake was the chief god of the Bird Man Cult on Easter Island. This cult was about a dangerous ritual race to collect the first Sooty Tern egg of the season and thus gain sole rights to the wild bird egg harvest (details here).

Also note that the solar eclipse at 9+ Leo on Friday was conjunct the natal Makemakes of a lot of sixties kids, particularly those born from September 1964 to July 1968.

Below are details of the relevant aspects:

Monday 04 August 2008

09:41:33 UT - Makemake (23 vi 18′55″) sextile Ceres (23 cn 18′55″)

Wednesday 06 August 2008

04:19:43 UT - Venus enters Virgo (direct)
18:37:35 UT - Mars (22 vi 1′41″) opposite Uranus (22 pi 1′41″ Rx)
18:40:10 UT - Mercury (23 le 5′4″) opposite Neptune (23 aq 5′4″ Rx)

Friday 08 August 2008

23:17:43 UT - Makemake (23 vi 24′10″) conjunct Mars (23 vi 24′10″)

P.S. You can get the position of Makemake for any date using my online ephemeris here, and Planet Waves coverage here gives you all the details of Makemake’s discovery and the story behind its naming.