International Astronomical Union names two asteroids after Uzbek astronomers

Information on Asteroid (131358)

Asteroid (131358), previously designated as 2001 KA2, was discovered on May 19, 2001, by Czech astronomers at the Ondřejov Observatory. It is named after Kamoliddin Ergashov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Astronomy. According to the WGSBN, the scientist has been researching asteroids since 2007 and received a PhD in 2024. His scientific work focuses on asteroid photometry, light curve analysis, studying the physical characteristics of small bodies in the Solar System, as well as researching asteroid pairs, clusters, and binary systems.

Information on Asteroid (121339)

Asteroid (121339), previously designated as 1999 TO15, was also discovered by Czech astronomers on October 13, 1999. It is dedicated to Otabek Burkhonov, head of a laboratory at the Mirzo Ulugbek Institute of Astronomy. The official description states that Burkhonov has worked at the institute since 2000 and obtained a Candidate of Sciences degree in 2005. His research is devoted to optical photometry, studying asteroid light curves, variable stars, gravitationally lensed quasars, and optical follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts at the Maidanak Observatory.

Recognition of Scientists' Achievements

The Academy of Sciences emphasized that naming asteroids after scientists is a form of international recognition of their contribution to the development of science. The approved names are included in the official international astronomical nomenclature and are used in scientific publications, catalogs, and ephemerides. Previously, Kamoliddin Ergashov and Otabek Burkhonov received the NASA Group Achievement Award for their participation in a planet defense project. The Academy also recalled that in 2012, the IAU named asteroid number 22948 'Maidanak' in honor of one of Uzbekistan's leading astronomical observatories.

Object Naming Process

According to the IAU, not every discovered asteroid receives a name. For this, the object must have a reliably determined orbit and a permanent number, after which the proposed name undergoes a set verification and approval procedure by the Working Group on Small Body Nomenclature (WGSBN). Currently, official names have been assigned to approximately 26,400 minor planets.