After the death of the famous Yukonar he received an honor out of this world.
Skukam Jim, also known as Jim Mason, discovered gold at Bonanza Creek in 1897, which led to a gold hunt in Klondike. When he died in 1916, he put his fortune into a fund of money to improve the lives of the indigenous people of the Yukon.
Last week, on the recommendation of the Yukon Astronomical Society, an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter was named following him.
“I think it’s a good thing,” said Jenna MacLean, the eldest daughter of Jim Mason, who didn’t know her grandfather’s name had been introduced.
“It is important for Skukum to carry Jim Mason’s name in Yukon’s public history to the rest of his nephews and family.”
Skok and Jim Mason are Dakish of the Doug La White clan. The Friendship Center that bears his name on White Horse said the foundation funds he established in his will still exist today. The benefits earned from this money are used to recognize the tribal members who have helped their community.
Maria Benoit, Ha Shu Do Hin, or President of Corcross/Takish First Nation and former General Manager of the Skukam Gym Friendship Center, were thrilled to hear this news. His grandfather Skok was also the nephew of Jim Mason.
“Coming from a first country, this is the production date,” he said.
scocom jim asteroid
Skukam Jim’s asteroid is a major asteroid in the belt. It orbits with other asteroids between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
“It takes more than five years to complete a complete orbit around the sun,” explained Christa van Leerhoeven, president of the Yukon Astronomical Society. “Its orbit is not very circular. We call it weird. It is not very round, but it is small. It tilts regarding 15 degrees compared to Earth’s orbit.”
As far as Van Lerhoven is concerned, this is the second asteroid connected to Yukon.
“The only asteroid I can see with a Yukon link is Klondike,” he said, naming it following two brothers who came to Klondike to search for gold, and that was a donation to a university in Finland. library.
In this strange fate, Van Leerhoeven said that this is the university where the Skukam Jim asteroid was first discovered.
However, if you want to see the Scook Jim asteroid, you need a telescope, Van Leerhoeven said.
She said, “There’s something so big, and bringing it into your own backyard is no easy feat.
McClain said he hopes science will one day discover the cause of the asteroid.
“Wouldn’t it be cool if there were more gold loaded?” She said with a laugh.
naming process
The naming began with an email from the Royal Canadian Astronomical Society to the Yukon Astronomical Society stating that some names were likely to be submitted to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which is responsible for naming objects in space.
Van Leerhoeven said the way the email was said seemed as if the IAU wanted to honor someone who had best served society.
“We felt that if we were to honor Yukonar, we would like to honor Skokam Jim,” he said.
“We realized that his presence was the largest in Yukon’s history. If we want to name an asteroid following the Yukon, it must already be him.”
9:30research! above the sky! It’s Scookum Jim Asteroid
An asteroid named Yukoner Scookum Jim has been officially named. Christa van Leerhoeven of the Yukon Astronomical Society explains how this happened. 9:30
This recommendation was made in 2018.
The honor was announced by the Yukon Astronomical Society on April 11 last week.
“I’m totally pink because the IAU accepted our advice,” van Leerhoeven said.
