QB1 was the first body discovered out past Pluto, and is designated the first Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) ever found. It was discovered by astronomer Dave Jewitt. Check out Dave's page 1992 QB1 or th official IAU announcement of its discoery Circular 5611. What about it's orbit? Click here for a picture of that: Orbit.
Dave Jewitt discusses the discovery of QB1, and other bodies, on YouTube: Dave on YouTube
Jonathan Dunn wrote of some initial keywords he was using for QB1: Keywords.
You can check out where QB1 is right now. Click here and look at the far-right column: Ephemeris
In the following article, Michael Coleman makes a good case that this body should be called Ouroborus. Read it, and contact Michael if you agree with him at mccoleman1969@gmail.com
1992 QB1, CUBEWANOS AND OUROBORUS
by Michael Coleman
While researching some of the less well-known objects in our solar system, I started to look at the Asteroids, Centaurs, Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), Plutinos and the objects past Pluto in the relatively unknown areas of the Kuiper belt and the Oort Clouds at the very fringes of our solar system. In these outer reaches, I ran into 1992 QB1 (15760).
1992 QB1 was the first TNO to be discovered after Pluto and Charon in 1992 by Jewitt and Luu at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii. The discoverers suggested the name "Smiley" for the object, but as there is already an asteroid named “Smiley” (1613 – Smiley) after the American astronomer Charles Hugh Smiley and the name could not be used. It seemed that the new class of objects they discovered called Cubewanos (from QB1 – QB1 ohs) should have their first constituent with a proper mythology, but naming went to later discoveries (Make Make, Haumea, Quaoar, Varuna, Logos, Chaos, Deucalion, Borasisi, Altjira, Teharonhiawako), leaving QB1 behind unnamed after the initial naming suggestion was quashed. ).
As I started to incorporate these new objects (Asteroids, Centaurs, Plutinos, Cubewanos and SDOs) into my personal (and admittedly limited) astrological analysis, I felt a need to classify these “QB1ohs” further. ).
I looked at Chiron and the Centaurs; with the bridging of the inner and outer planets, I saw how the Centaurs helped mankind to move forward in a bigger world, one outside of personal experience (inner planets), and incorporate the new experiences of brotherhood with man, connection to God, healing and spirituality (Uranus and Neptune) into one’s personal experience and integrating these into personal morality and beliefs (Jupiter). I saw the connection between the Centaurs and the Outer objects (Chiron and some of the Centaurs are believed to have come from the Oort Cloud, the origin of comets). But what was the connection to Pluto (and his orbit-mates, the Plutinos)? And what about the objects beyond that? ).
Pluto is traditionally about transformation; changes which come and have profound effects on a person’s life; and these changes can sometimes be regarded with suspicion and fear. No one likes change, and most find it hard to see the positive side of changes, even with the most minor of adjustments. There is a persistence of feeling and intensity at Pluto and the Plutinos (Orcus, Ixion, Rhadamanthus, Huya) with powerful changes, suspicion and fear shaping the lives of men).
Looking further out to the Scattered Disc Objects (SDOs) I saw the after-effects of these changes, most notably in Eris (136199) who reacted in such a way to being snubbed on an invitation to a wedding party, that she underhandedly starts the Trojan War (in the name of love, no less) with the Apple of Discord. Eris, along with the other SDOs (Sedna, Ceto, Typhon) take action when changes occur. They take the persistent feelings of Plutino and coalesce them into directed thought and action as a reaction to these changes in SDO. The SDOs’ proximity to outer space (the outside world) connects them to the sense of life as a whole in the universe, and we humans as part of this universe. The SDOs show our face to the universe at large as a product of our reaction to life’s events and it seems that the Cubewanos, with their position between the Plutinos and SDOs, are the filter through which these events are judged and reaction decided on through this analysis. ).
In studying this “filter”, I am drawn to the concepts of public morality, religion and philosophy. These things seem to be the “filters” through which we all judge experiences, and philosophers / religious leaders are similar to the movement of these bodies; slow to change, and influential because they are steadfast, the catalyst of many great (and horrible) things like the ideologies behind many of the great religions through history. Expanding on this, each of the Cubewanos, with their mythologies, can fit into this hypothesis (Make Make’s connection to resurrection, new life, and the concept of heaven as payment for winning the “competition” of life, or Borasisi’s connection to ignorance being bliss, denial of truth and persistent optimism, can connect them with religions and philosophies and their ideologies) but the first of these, QB1, what does it symbolize?
I like the concept of the Ouroborus as the symbol for QB1 and its philosophy. Ouroborus is an ancient symbol; the symbol of the snake (or dragon) in a circle, biting its own tail has long been a symbol of eternity or infinity in many cultures. Plato described it as the first creature in the universe; perfectly created, self-sufficient (it feeds itself!) and immortal. These keywords fit in nicely with the philosophy / religion aspect expanded on; the directed thought and requisite action of philosophy / religion persists, even when unpopular or persecuted, the persistent ideas recur, as do the concepts these ideas represent (soul, fate, evil) throughout history, immortally and perpetually
QB1 (Ouroborus), as the first of these Cubewanos, is the birthplace of the Cubewano philosophies, the most basic of moralities, the simplest of paths. All philosophies / religions, in their quest to make “better” people, accept several basic axioms as “givens” to living a “correct” life. Murder, stealing, lying, cheating; all philosophies accept these things as the “wrong” things, even as these philosophies can’t agree on a name for “God”, or how it should be worshipped (or if it should be worshipped at all!). QB1 (Ouroborus) is this basic morality, this basic “right path”, with the recurring themes associated with “goodness” (treating others correctly, diminishing your negative impact on the world, being sympathetic, giving selflessly) being attached to it as well. It is almost better that QB1 doesn’t have a name, because what would it be named if all of this applied
Not much attention is paid to objects if they haven’t been named, or aren’t unusual in some way, but I find QB1, the whole family of TNOs, and the possible symbolism of the Ouroborus, fascinating. For lack of a mythology to turn to, I like this cross-cultural symbol in my analysis, and I hope you feel the same.
Click here 1992 QB1, to find out how to discover where your QB1 is.
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