This minor planet is named after the Italian word for "trace" or "track," perhaps evocative of a body tracing out a fixed path around the Sun as this asteroid does. But because this asteroid was named by discoverer Paul Wild, it of course has to be a clever name. This minor planet's name and numerical designation is in fact an anagram of another asteroid — namely, 1257 Móra. Therefore, the symbol of this minor planet should clearly be a representation of an asteroid tracing a fixed path, while also being an anagram of the symbol for Móra. Let me take you behind the scenes on how I devised this symbol. When broken down into discrete elements, the symbol for Móra consists of two lines of unit length, one line of twice-unit length, two short diagonals from the "M", two longer diagonals from the "K", and a tiny circle and asteroidal star. The longest line is placed horizontal, with the two unit-length lines as vertical legs on either side, and the K-diagonals are placed in the inside corners like support struts. Then, the star-in-circle is placed above in the center, with the two M-diagonals on the left leaning towards it. Thus, the symbol resembles a star in motion along a fixed track like an elevated railroad track. |
2517 Orma
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