Five New Planets Named After Top Chinese Scientists

Jan 05, 2016 03:02 AM EST

n this handout provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Pluto's largest moon Charon is shown from a distance of 289,000 miles (466,000 kilometers) from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, taken on July 13, and released July 15, 2015. New Horizons passed by Pluto July 14, closing to a distance of about 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers). The image was combined with color information taken from the craft's Ralph instrument. The 1,050-pound piano sized probe was launched January 19, 2006 aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, (Photo by NASA/APL/SwRI via Getty Images)

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved China's suggestion to name five minor planets after top Chinese scientists, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.

The five planets were discovered through the Xinglong observation station in north China as part of the Beijing Schmidt CCD Asteroid Program between 1995 and 1999.

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Based on international rules, those who discover minor planets will have the right to name the new planets after they are confirmed by the Minor Planet Center.

In a ceremony in Beijing on 4 January, Chinese vice premier Liu Yandong awarded the certificates that officially named the minor planets after top Chinese scientists.

Minor Planet No. 31230 has been named Tu Youyou, after the Chinese scientist who bagged the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Tu discovered artemisinin to treat malaria and saved millions of lives.

Minor Planet No. 12935 has been named Zheng Zhemin, the Chinese dynamicist and one of the founders of the field of explosion mechanics.

Minor Planet No. 19282 is now known as Zhang Cunhao, the found of China's high-energy chemical lasers and one of the pioneers of molecular reaction dynamics.

Minor Planet No. 32928 is now known as Xie Jialin, China's physical scientist who discovered particle accelerators in the country.

Minor Planet No. 9221, meanwhile, was named after Wu Liangyong, a Chinese city planner, educator, and architect.

According to the Xinhua news agency, the scientists had won China's most prestigious scientific awards, except for Tu. However, Tu was chosen to join the list of scientists, whose names have been given to the planets, because of his Nobel Prize award.

TagsChina Scientists, China Planets, China Planet, China Minor Planets, Minor Planets