Two asteroids have been named after employees of the Mirzo Ulugbek Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan – Kamoliddin Ergashev and Otabek Burkhonov. The new names were published in the official bulletin of the Working Group on Small Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union.

Asteroid (131358), previously designated 2001 KA2, was named Kamolergashev. The celestial body was discovered on May 19, 2001, by Czech astronomers Petr Pravec and Petr Kušnirák at the Ondřejov Observatory in Czechia.

Kamoliddin Ergashev joined the asteroid research group at the Astronomical Institute in 2007 and earned his PhD in 2024. His scientific work involves asteroid photometry, light curve analysis, determination of physical characteristics of celestial bodies, as well as studying asteroid pairs, clusters, and binary systems.

Asteroid (121339) was named after Otabek Burkhonov, now officially called Otabekburkhonov. It was discovered on October 13, 1999, at the same Czech observatory. Before receiving a permanent name, the object was registered under the designation 1999 TO15.

Otabek Burkhonov has been working at the Mirzo Ulugbek Astronomical Institute since 2000. He specializes in optical photometry, studying light curves of asteroids and variable stars, gravitationally lensed quasars, as well as follow-up optical observations of gamma-ray bursts at the Maidanak Observatory.

It is worth recalling that earlier these same scientists received an international NASA award for their contribution to planetary defense.

Source: podrobno.uz