Two Asteroids Named After Uzbek Astronomers

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named two minor planets after Kamoliddin Ergashev and Otabek Burkhonov, researchers at the Institute of Astronomy of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, the country's Academy of Sciences announced.

The decision was published on 9 July 2026 by the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) of the International Astronomical Union and was included in the 11th issue of the sixth volume of the organization's official bulletin.

From this point on, the asteroids are officially registered in international astronomical catalogs under the names (131358) Kamolergashev and (121339) Otabekburkhonov.

Asteroid (131358), which previously held the provisional designation 2001 KA2, was discovered on 19 May 2001 by Czech astronomers at the Ondrejov Observatory. It has been named after Kamoliddin Ergashev, a senior researcher at the Institute of Astronomy.

According to the WGSBN citation, the scientist has been conducting research on asteroids since 2007 and obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2024. His scientific activities focus on asteroid photometry, light curve analysis, studying the physical characteristics of small bodies in the Solar System, and researching asteroid pairs, clusters, and binary systems.

Asteroid (121339), previously designated as 1999 TO15, was discovered on 13 October 1999, also by Czech astronomers. It is named in honor of Otabek Burkhonov, head of a laboratory at the Mirzo Ulugbek Institute of Astronomy.

The official description notes that Burkhonov has worked at the institute since 2000 and obtained his Candidate of Sciences degree in 2005. His research is dedicated to optical photometry, the study of asteroid light curves, variable stars, gravitationally lensed quasars, as well as optical follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts at the Maidanak Observatory.

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 Ergashev and Otabek Burkhonov were honored with the NASA Group Achievement Award for their participation in a planetary defense project.

The Academy also recalled that in 2012, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid number 22948 "Maidanak" in honor of one of the leading astronomical observatories in Uzbekistan.

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