Named for Chiro Astronomical Observatory (Chiro tenmondai) in Western Australia. Founded in 1995 by the joint efforts of Australian and Japanese amateur astronomers, it is also operated by the two groups. It is a considered a sister observatory to the Japanese amateurs' Shirakawa Observatory, the two sites being at approximately at the same latitude in opposite hemispheres. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by L. Taylor and T. Sato.