Name origin: Ancient Egyptian personification of chaos, also known as Apep or Apepi, and the opponent of Ra (light) and Ma’at (order/truth). Appears in art as a giant serpent. He is supposed to lie below the horizon and not remain in the mortal kingdom, thus consigning him to the underworld.
Name origin: Venetia Phair (née Burney), who at age 11 was the first to suggest the name Pluto when said planet was discovered. She studied mathematics and became an accountant, and later a teacher.
Name origin: Famous Greek hero and demigod who became immortal. Performed the 12 labours for King Eurystheus of Mycenae, and had a number of other adventures. His name means ‘glory (or fame) of Hera’. On his ascension, he married Hebe.
Name origin: Jack B. Child (b. 1951), software engineer at JPL and Asteroid Project director of the World Space Foundation; honoured for his “generous helpfulness” and for introducing team members to the Palomar project.
Gifted Thracian bard in Greek legend. The best-known story involves Orpheus venturing into the underworld to try to bring back his wife Eurydike after she died from a snake bite. He lost her again just as they were returning to the upper world, after failing to keep a prohibition on looking back at her on the journey.
Name origin: Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes. He became renowned for his skill at craftsmanship; several of his myths involve his works for gods and mortals.
Name origin: Greek king of Lydia, son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto. Through his son Pelops, Tantalos was the founder of the house of Atreus. By offering Pelops as a sacrifice to test the gods, he incurred their wrath and was sent to Tartarus.
Name origin: Important Egyptian underworld god, husband of Isis. Osiris was originally a local deity from Lower Egypt who may have been a personification of fertility in the chthonic realms. He evolved to represent both fertility and death/resurrection.
Name origin: Cretan mortal, son of the great craftsman Daedalus, who made wings held together with beeswax to help the two of them escape the island. Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, nor too close to the sea. Overcome by giddiness while flying, Icarus disobeyed his father and came too close to the sun, and the heat melted the beeswax. He fell into the sea and drowned.
Name origin: Genus of perennial flowering plants native to southern Africa, commonly called the natal or bush lily. They have green, long leaves and mainly bell-shaped flowers, with berry fruits. The genus itself is named after Charlotte Percy (née Clive), who first cultivated the plant in the U.K.
