This Inuit author named 4 of Saturn's moons. Here's what he wants to name next

Renowned children's author Michael Kusugak loves telling a good story.

And you can't have a story without a character, and a name.

From Kiviuq — the heroic and ancient wanderer who will slowly turn to stone as we reach the end of the universe — to Ijirait, the shape-shifters that love a good game of hide and seek, many of Kusugak's characters have been passed down to him through Inuit lore since time immemorial.

In the year 2000, Kusugak was invited to keep some of those names alive for as long as Saturn circles the sun.

Canadian scientist J.J. Kavelaars had been on a team that discovered new moons around the planet Saturn, and the astronomer had been reading Kusugak's book, Hide and Sneak, to his kids. Kusugak read a newspaper story that said Kavelaars wanted to name one of the moons 'Ijiraq' — because, like a talented shape-shifter, the moon had been very hard to find.

So Kusugak sent the astronomer an email, and got an immediate response: "I need three more names.'"

Now known as the "Inuit moons," the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration says it's believed these moons are fragments of a single object that shattered in some kind of space crash.

Astronomers at NASA believe the Inuit group of moons, which have similarities in how they travel around the planet, may have all come from the same original material and split apart after a space collision.

Kavelaars wanted this group of what was then four moons to all have Inuktut names, so in 2000, Kusugak came up with Kiviuq, Paaliaq and Siarnaq in addition to Ijiraq.

Paaliaq is named after a family friend that became a character in one of Kusugak's books.

Siarnaq, which was chosen as a nod to the name of the sea creature Sedna, also means "grey, like a grey dog," Kusugak said.

In 2007, a fifth moon was found in the group. It is called "Tarqeq" — Kusugak didn't name that one but says it's an Inuktut word for "moon." And since then, two new moons have been found that will be named soon.

Click here to read the full Unreserved article and listen to the interview...