Tonatiuh

In Aztec mythology, Tonatiuh (Nahuatl: Ōllin Tōnatiuh [oːlːin toːˈnatiʍ] "Movement of the Sun") was the sun god. The Aztec people considered him the leader of Tollan, heaven. He was also known as the fifth sun, because the Aztecs believed that he was the sun that took over when the fourth sun was expelled from the sky.

Description

Aztec theology held that each sun was a god with its own cosmic era, the Aztecs believed they were still in Tonatiuh's era. According to the Aztec creation myth, the god demanded human sacrifice as tribute and without it would refuse to move through the sky. It is said that 20,000 people were sacrificed each year to Tonatiuh and other gods, though this number is thought to be inflated either by the Aztecs, who wanted to inspire fear in their enemies, or the Spaniards, who wanted to vilify the Aztecs. The Aztecs were fascinated by the sun and carefully observed it, and had a solar calendar similar to that of the Maya. Many of today's remaining Aztec monuments have structures aligned with the sun.

HD 104985

HD 104985, also named Tonatiuh, is a helium-fusing yellow giant star located 97 parsecs (317 lys) from the Sun in the constellation of Camelopardalis. An extrasolar planet (designated HD 104985 b, later named Meztli) is believed to orbit the star.

HD 104985 is the star's entry in the Henry Draper Catalogue. Following its discovery in 2003 the planet was designated HD 104985 b. In July 2014 the International Astronomical Union launched a process for giving proper names to certain exoplanets and their host stars. The process involved public nomination and voting for the new names. In December 2015, the IAU announced the winning names were Tonatiuh for this star and Meztli for its planet.

The winning names were those submitted by the Sociedad Astronomica Urania of Morelos, Mexico. 'Tonatiuh' was the Aztec god of the Sun; 'Meztli' was the Aztec goddess of the Moon.

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Coordinates: 12^h 05^m 15.1178^s, +76° 54′ 20.641″