The International Astronomical Union’s Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) has announced that two minor planets (asteroids) have been named after two scientists from the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan: Kamoliddin Ergashev and Otabek Burxonov. This decision was officially published in the WGSBN bulletin (Volume 6, Issue 11) on July 9, 2026.
According to reports, the asteroid discovered on May 19, 2001, at the Ondřejov Observatory in the Czech Republic was named in honor of Kamoliddin Ergashev. The official citation recognizes the scientist's research on asteroid photometry, the study of their physical properties, and work concerning asteroid pairs and binary systems. The name of Otabek Burxonov was given to an asteroid discovered by Czech astronomers on October 13, 1999. The scientist's work in the fields of optical photometry, variable stars, gravitationally lensed quasars, and optical observations of gamma-ray bursts has received high international acclaim.
These celestial bodies will now be listed in international astronomical catalogs under the names (131358) Kamolergashev and (121339) Otabekburkhonov.
Naming asteroids after scientists is considered a prestigious form of recognizing their contributions to the advancement of science.
