Taranis is asteroid #5370 and also known as 1986 RA. Taranis was discovered by the French astronomer Alain Maury at the Palomar Observatory. Taranis measures approximately 5 km in diameter, is a member of the group Amor and in a 2:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter. Such celestial objects are seldom.

Taranis is named after Taranis, the Celtic god of thunder. He was one of the three top-level gods of the Celts. The name Taranis is related with the name Donar and both denote the god of thunder in different, but related languages. More isn’t known about Taranis, the Celtic god of thunder. Taranis of course is a version of the Roman Jupiter or the Slavic Perun too.

Thunder deities seem to be a popular theme for asteroids. The difference between a thunder god and a thunder god can only be the mythology, where the thunder god is embedded. But Germanic mythology is scarcely known while Slavic and Celtic mythologies are almost completely unknown. The Celts seem to have sacrificed humans to their main gods, at least some Roman sources reported this. Some people in antiquity could have deemed human sacrifices necessary in order to calm down the thunder, so that he would kill less many people and cause less destruction. Maybe human sacrifices were necessary in order to spread fear and keep certain people in power. Taranis in an astrological chart should indicate a deadly danger. Especially when the chart owner could be a deadly danger for others.