Bianca Castafiore
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Tintin and Captain Haddock still don’t have asteroids to their name, but the Milanese nightingale who is a recurring character in The Adventures of Tintin managed the feat as early as 1950. Asteroid 1683 is named Castafiore after the opera artiste whose singing often compels the object of her affection, Captain Haddock (or rather Padlock or Hadcock or...), to run for cover. A main-belt asteroid, Castafiore was discovered by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend.
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The famous sleuth and his friend, confidant and biographer have cracked many cases together and even have adjacent asteroids named after them. Asteroid 5049 and asteroid 5050 are named Sherlock and Doctorwatson respectively. Both main-belt asteroids, Sherlock was discovered in November 1981 while Doctorwatson’s existence was confirmed two years later. They were discovered by the same person — American astronomer Ted Bowell. Professor Moriarty — the ace sleuth’s nemesis — also has an asteroid to his name. All three are located between Mars and Jupiter and take three-four years to orbit the sun. But as always, Holmes is one step ahead of the rest — he even has a crater on the moon named after him!
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No prizes for guessing the number of the James Bond asteroid. Discovered by Czech astronomer Antonin Mrkos at the Klet Observatory in October 1983, asteroid 9007 is named after the fictional British spy in honour of his creator Ian Fleming.
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Yet another famous fictional pair has found their place among the stars. Asteroid 29401 is named after Asterix — the tiny but fearless and clever Gaul warrior — while his fighting fat (fat? who’s fat?!) friend Obelix has asteroid 29402 named after him. And while Asterix and Obelix may be very different by nature, their asteroids have a lot in common. Both are main-belt asteroids discovered in October 1996 by Czech astronomers Zdenek Moravec and Milos Tichy at the Klet Observatory.
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Asteroid 2597 is named King Arthur, the legendary British ruler who led his country against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century and occupies an important place in English folklore. The Arthur asteroid is a small one discovered by Ted Boswell in 1980. Arthur’s queen Guinevere and his knights Lancelot and Galahad also have celestial bodies named after them.
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The comic knight created by Spanish writer Cervantes in 1605 lends his name to asteroid 3552, discovered by astronomer Paul Wild in 1983. Don Quixote is a potentially hazardous asteroid and often makes threateningly close approaches to Earth’s atmosphere. It has a highly inclined orbit and measures 18.7 km in diameter.
