The names were approved this month by the union’s Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature, which is responsible for naming asteroids and other small objects in the solar system.
The latest honorees include planetary geologist Anna Łosiak and six researchers connected with Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań: Emil Wilawer, Karolina Dziadura, Krzysztof Langner, Monika Kamińska, Roman Hirsch and Argentina’s Milagros Colazo.
The asteroids’ official names combine each honoree’s first name and surname into a single word.
The objects had previously been identified only by numbers and temporary designations assigned after their discovery.
Asteroid (20160) Annałosiak honors a researcher at the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Łosiak studies impact craters on Earth and other celestial bodies. She is also involved in efforts to promote the Morasko meteorite crater field in Poznań.
The asteroid was discovered in October 1996 by Belgian astronomer Eric Walter Elst at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.
The six other honorees have strong links to Adam Mickiewicz University’s Astronomical Observatory Institute, a major Polish center for research into asteroids and other small solar system bodies.
Asteroid (20322) Emilwilawer recognizes Emil Wilawer, who studies the physical properties of asteroids.
His work includes phase curves, charts showing how an asteroid’s apparent brightness changes depending on the angle from which it is observed.
Asteroid (20446) Karolinadziadura honors Karolina Dziadura, who earned a doctorate in planetary astronomy from Adam Mickiewicz University in 2024.
Her research includes the Yarkovsky effect, in which heat absorbed and released by a rotating asteroid can gradually alter its orbit.
She also uses observations of asteroids passing in front of stars to determine their size, shape and rotation.
Asteroid (20459) Krzysztoflangner is named for Krzysztof Langner, who studies asteroid dynamics.
His recent work has focused on the Didymos-Dimorphos binary asteroid system and the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) and Hera missions.
NASA’s DART spacecraft deliberately struck Dimorphos in 2022 to test whether a collision could change an asteroid’s course.
The European Space Agency’s Hera mission will examine the consequences of that impact.
Asteroid (20551) Monikakamińska honors Monika Kamińska, who has conducted asteroid observations for many years.
She is responsible for work using the Roman Baranowski Telescope at the Winer Observatory in Arizona.
Asteroid (20636) Romanhirsch recognizes Roman Hirsch, an astronomer involved in observations at the Borowiec Observatory near Poznań and the Nordic Optical Telescope on the Spanish island of La Palma.
The seventh asteroid, (20280) Colazo, honors Milagros Rita Colazo. The Argentine planetary scientist completed her doctorate at the National University of Córdoba in 2023 and is now a postdoctoral researcher in Poznań.
The six asteroids honoring researchers connected with the Poznań observatory were discovered between 1998 and 1999 near Socorro, New Mexico, through the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program.
(rt/gs)
Source: polskieradio.pl, naukawpolsce.pl, wgsbn-iau.org