Tennyo is asteroid #6664 and also known as 1993 CK. Tennyo is a member of the asteroid-clan Flora/ Ariadne. Tennyo was discovered by Kobayashi Takao (小林 隆男) at the Ooizumi (大泉) Observatory. Tennyo’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 2.38 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.08, a period of revolution of 1 341 days, and an inclination of 4.9 degrees.

Tennyo is named after a nickname of the Japanese female astronaut Mukai Chiaki (向井 千秋). The Japanese word tennyo (天女) means “a female inhabitant of heaven” or “heavenly female”, but it primarily is the Japanese translation for the Sanskrit word devī́ (देवी). This word means “female deity”, “goddess” and is the title of each goddess. It also is used for a goddess, whose name isn’t known because she is weak and her rank low, so that there isn’t a cult. In Chinese and Japanese Buddhism are tennyo (天女) sometimes added as companions to pictures or statues of more important figures. Tennyo (天女) or heavenly maidens can be messengers of deities or of Buddhas. Tennyo (天女) have magical powers and can fly to heaven, but only while they are wearing their feathered robes. The celestial maidens are like normal humans if the celestial maidens lose their feathered robes. Tennyo (天女) can be seen as the Japanese variant of valkyries or of angels. Mukai Chiaki (向井 千秋) got her nickname “tennyo (天女)” from an interview. The official naming citation of the asteroid #6664 explains this nickname:

A maiden who dances in the heavens scattering flowers, playing music and perfuming the atmosphere, this angelic figure can be seen in Buddhist sculptures and paintings traditionally found all over Japan. During astronaut Chiaki Mukai’s first space shuttle flight, she communicated by radio with junior high school students in Tatebayashi. In the radio exchange, one of the students asked how it felt to be in space. She answered, “It feels like I have become a `tennyo’ and am flying.” The word became famous all over Japan as another name for Mukai. This naming was also a winning entry in the Exploratorium “star” naming competition.

Ref: Minor Planet Circ. 33787

Do you know the feeling, which gives the impression to fly? I guess this is similar to the highs of drug abusers. I can’t know this because I don’t abuse any drugs. But I know the feeling like flying or like walking on clouds, also when it has nothing to do with flying as a means of movement. Tennyo represents this feeling. Other asteroids like Melancholia or Nostalgia represent feelings too. They are named after feelings and hardly have a chance to represent anything else. So there certainly are several asteroids, that have the task to represent certain feelings. Tennyo belongs to these asteroids.