Asteroid 53311, Deucalion, is a trans-Neptunian object discovered April 18, 1999 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey at Kitt Peak Observatory near Sells, Arizona. It has a period of 293 years, 240 days.
Deucalion and Pyrrha, a 1655 painting by Italian artist Il Grechetto (real name, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione).
It was named for Deucalion, son of Prometheus, who, along with his wife Pyrrha, daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora, survived a flood Zeus sent to destroy the human race in an ark Prometheus advised Deucalion to build. (The parallels with the Biblical legend of Noah and the Mesopotamian legend of Utnapishtim found in the Epic of Gilgamesh should be clear.) After the flood receded and Deucalion and Pyrrha disembarked from the boat, the goddess Themis appeared to them and told them to "veil their heads and cast behind them the bones of their mother." After puzzling over the oracle, they decided that Themis meant for them to don veils and throw rocks (the bones of Mother Earth) behind them, which they did. The rocks became people when they hit the ground, the rocks thrown by Deucalion becoming men and the rocks thrown by Pyrrha becoming women, and in this way the human race was brought back from extinction.
Deucalion's name means "new-wine sailor" in Greek.
Some significations of asteroid Deucalion include rock-hard, tough, cold, brutal, nasty, belligerent, ordeals, saying no, rejecting, repudiating, accomplishment, talent, true destiny, survivalism; also, possibly, things pertaining to ships, diving, salvage work or treasure hunting, and, some say, to be flooded, or inundated with negativity (Penny Steffen).
The Old Man Of The Mountain, a rock formation near Franconia, New Hampshire that was a popular symbol of the state. It collapsed in 2003 after having spent years being propped up with cables and other artificial support.
Special-ed teacher Torey L. Hayden has written extensively describing her work with severely disturbed children. Born May 21, 1951 in Livingston, Montana, she has Deucalion semisextile Saturn (work, career), trine Ballard (reclamation or retrieval work), and quincunx Cruithne (stigmatized people and situations).
Thor Heyerdahl used and sailed boats built according to ancient formulae (the Kon-Tiki, the Ra and Ra II) in an attempt to support his archaeological theories, and participated personally in the design and building of these boats. He had Deucalion sesquiquadrate Okyrhoe (dealing with criticism and opposition) and quincunx Ceres (nurturance).
Pioneering American environmental activist John Muir had Deucalion conjunct Mars, semisextile Quaoar (to create), sextile Lilith (the nonrational; reluctance; marginalization; things grudgingly tolerated) and Chiron, square Boucolion (appreciation of pristine natural settings), trine Don Quixote and 1996 TL66 (epiphany), and quincunx 1992 QB1 (to witness, powerful ideology).Muir lost his eyesight temporarily in an industrial accident and longed for his eyesight to be restored if he could only look on unspoiled nature again; his wish was granted, and he spent the rest of his life working to preserve it.
James "Bo" Gritz, former Green Beret, fringe presidential candidate, right-wing activist, mercenary and survivalist, born January 18, 1939 in Enid, Oklahoma, has Deucalion sextile 1994 TA aka "Pylenor" (ideas of pollution) and 2002 AW197 (global changes and one's attitude toward them), square Uranus (rebellion), Ceres, and 2000 EC98 (weird, ungrounded); trine Achilles (bold leadership), Varuna (judgmental), Dioretsa (foolish), and Boucolion; and quincunx 2002 VE95 (a mixed blessing) and Chaos.
Famed diver, underwater salvage operator and treasure hunter Mel Fisher (born August 21, 1922, in Hobart, Indiana), who found the treasure-laden wreck of the Spanish galleon *Atocha* off the coast of Florida in 1985, had Deucalion semisquare Mercury (ideas, speeches, writings, manual dexterity) and sesquiquadrate Uranus (technology).
Muhammad Ali rejected military service during the Vietnam War as a protest against racism and was temporarily stripped of his heavyweight boxing championship title; his daughter Leila Ali has followed in his footsteps, something he doesn't really approve of. Muhammad Ali has Deucalion in the twelfth house, on the Ascendant, square Juno (the disenfranchised).
Marshall Applewhite devoted his life to the Heaven's Gate cult and lured dozens of his followers to mass suicide with the promise of being taken up to heaven aboard a UFO. He had Deucalion in the fifth house, square Mercury and trine the East Point (as the world sees you).
The glyph for Deucalion is mine.