News: International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named a minor planet after Indian musician Pandit Jasraj. He’s the first Indian musician to receive this honour.
Facts:
- Minor planet 2006 VP32 (number -300128), has been named ‘Panditjasraj.’
- The minor planet is an asteroid. It traverses the cosmos between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
- It was discovered on November 11, 2006 by the Catalina Sky Survey, whose telescopes are based in Arizona in the United States.
Additional Information:
Minor Planets:
- Minor planet is a term used to refer to a celestial object that is not a planet or comet which orbits the Sun.
- Minor planets can be dwarf planets, asteroids, Trojans, centaurs, Kuiper belt objects, and other trans-Neptunian objects.
- Ceres, found in 1801, was the first minor planet discovered. It is a dwarf planet.
- As of September, there are 5, 41,131 numbered minor planets of a total of 79, 70, 78 observed bodies, with the rest being unnumbered minor planets.
| Celestial Object | Description |
| Dwarf Planets | It is a planetary-mass object that does not dominate its region of space (as a true planet does) and is not a satellite. Ex: Pluto, Eris |
| Asteroid | They are small, rocky objects that orbit the sun. They are smaller than a planet, but they are larger than meteoroids. |
| Trojan | It is a small celestial body that shares the orbit of a larger one. Trojans can share the orbits of planets or of large moons. |
| Centaurs | They are small Solar System bodies with a semi-major axis between those of the outer planets. |
| Kuiper Belt Object | Objects found in Kuiper Belt. Kuiper belt, also called the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt, is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune (at 30 AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. |
International Astronomical Union
- It is an international association of professional astronomers.
- Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation.
- It was founded in 1919. It is headquartered in Paris, France.
