Asteroid 3240, Laocoon, a Jupiter Trojan, was discovered on November 7, 1978 by S. J. (Buddy) Bus at Palomar Observatory near Pauma Valley, California. It has a period of 12 years, 24 days.
Laocoon was named for a priest of Apollo at Troy who tried to warn the Trojans not to take the Trojan Horse from the Greeks. He and his two sons were immediately squeezed to death by snakes sent by Athena or Apollo, and the Trojans took that as a sign that they should accept the Trojan Horse, and brought it inside the walls of Troy, and what happened after that is well known.
Laocoon and His Sons, by Antonio Canova
Astrologically, asteroid Laocoon seems to indicate rejection, suspicion, hostility, handling change or new things and people.
Pioneering environmental activist Rachel Carson (author of Silent Spring had Laocoon undecimal Cruithne (in touch with the Earth) and sextile Chariklo (glamorized, need to keep perspective).
Antiwar activist Daniel Ellsberg, who first made his name during the Vietnam War by leaking classfied Pentagon documents showing that the Defense Department knew the war was unwinnable, has Laocoon trine Ixion (inventive, generating karma).
Controversial liberal filmmaker Michael Moore has Laocoon conjunct semisextile Mercury (speaking, writing, ideas), sextile Uranus (activism, rebellion), quincunx Ixion, and parallel Venus (values, outrage).
Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, who has come out in opposition to George W. Bush and his policies in Iraq and in other areas, has Laocoon sextile Mercury, Jupiter (foreign countries, philosophy), and Ixion, square Chariklo and Elatus, and opposite Hylonome (popular sentiment) and Phaethon.
Former head US weapons inspector in Iraq Scott Ritter (born July 15, 1961, in Gainesville, Florida) who found himself tarred as a child molester shortly after challenging the George W. Bush White House on Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction, has Laocoon square Uranus, trine the Sun and Asbolus (awful experiences), and contraparallel Mercury.
Canadian general Romeo Dallaire, who tried vainly to warn the world of the approaching Rwandan genocide, has Laocoon conjunct Don Quixote (tilting at windmills), sextile the North Node (giving out, making connections), trine Heracles (to contend with) and the South Node (taking in, separation), and sesquiquadrate Pallas (politics).
Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins has Laocoon square Saturn (work, career, rewards and consequences, rectitude) and trine Chariklo.
College football player Katie Hnida (born May 17, 1981 in Denver) was allegedly raped while at the University of Colorado and subjected to sexist attacks by her coach before she moved to the University of New Mexico; she later testified about abuses within the UC football program. Hnida has Laocoon conjunct the North Node, sextile Saturn, square Elatus (eloquent expression), and opposite the South Node.
Feminist Martha Burk (born October 18, 1941 in Tyler, Texas), who has tried to open the venerable Masters golf club in Augusta, Georgia to female members, has Laocoon semisextile Saturn, undecimal Uranus, quincunx Neptune and Quaoar (compelled to act), and parallel Heracles, Nessus (steeped in psychological poison) and Ixion.
Swedish pro golfer Annika Sorenstam played on a Professional Golf Association tournament at around the same time Burk started her attempt to pry open the door of the Masters to women; her calm refusal to link her appearance to feminist activism in any way defused tensions that threatened to slam the door on female guests at PGA tournaments. Sorenstam has Laocoon semisextile Don Quixote, square Nessus, trine Saturn, sesquiquadrate Ceres (nurturance), opposite Cruithne (marked) and Chariklo, and contraparallel Pallas (defense of civilized values).
Minor-league pro baseball player Ila Borders (born February 18, 1975 in La Mirada, California), who has taken a tremendous amount of abuse for being a woman in one of the most male-dominated of sports, has Laocoon conjunct Mercury, semisextile Pholus (strong before power), sextile Chariklo, square Ixion, and trine Pluto (unforgettable, distinguished).
Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player in Major League Baseball, had Laocoon in the ninth house of travel and philosophy, on the Midheaven, conjunct Chariklo, semisextile Nessus, decile Chiron (the key, the door-opener), sextile Jupiter and Hylonome (popular support, the cry of the people), square Neptune (dissolving barriers, scandalous) and the East Point (as the world sees you), and biquintile Pluto (unforgettable, distinguished, transformative). His refusal to quit, fight back or get angry at the incredible racist abuse thrown at him by bigoted players and fans made him the ideal person to break MLB's color barrier.
Fiery-tempered Bobby Knight (born October 25, 1940 in Orrville, Ohio) was welcomed by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas with some reservations after being fired from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana amid rioting for roughing up a student, leading to charges that college basketball was ethically challenged. Knight has Laocoon semisextile Cruithne (branded, in touch with one's culture) and Dioretsa (wild, stupid, out of control, something that sticks), sextile Saturn and Pholus, quintile Uranus, square Don Quixote, Chaos, and Asbolus, quintile Mars (anger, aggression, athletics), and contraparallel Juno (the disadvantaged).
The glyph for Laocoon, suggesting the snakes that twined around Laocoon (and his sons) and killed them, is mine.