The naming of an asteroid after Asteroid Day founder, Grig Richters.
I’m so happy that this very appropriate action came about. I
t really was Joel Parker who made it happen. And we planned to present the certificate to my dear pal Grig on Asteroid Day, alongside the presentation of Garik Israelian’s asteroid.
But as things worked out, Grig was at Asteroid Day headquarters in San Francisco on the Day, so we couldn’t bring it about.
We plan to have a presentation ceremony at some point when the stars align !
But meanwhile, we congratulate Grig on this naming, which, sanctioned by the International Astronomical Union, will stand for all time. Let’s hope that, when Asteroid Day achieves its aim of making Planet Earth safe from harmful impacts, ‘All Time’ will be a very long time !
Bri
Grig Richters wrote:
“I am very honoured to have an asteroid named after me (8664 GrigorijRichters). It is a main belt asteroid and is far away from our planet. Thank you so much to Brian and Joel Parker for making this happen!! Our mission at Asteroid Day is to educate the public about asteroids and to highlight the important work the people in the asteroid community are doing every day and night to keep us save from asteroids. Furthermore asteroids are fascinating and can teach us a lot about the origins of life.”
Asteroid (8664) GrigorijRichters at centre here.
Photo credit: Gianluca Masi
About the image:
Gianluca Masi – who captured the image wrote:
[The] asteroid is the one I marked with those two white lines. The image is the sum of five exposures, each exposed for 180 seconds. Images were summed after registering them respect to the (moving) asteroid, so the stars are showing are short trails, while your rock is a point of light.
This was a hard capture, as the asteroid is ending its observing season, showing soon after sunset, while twilight is still bright, setting soon.
Best
Gian
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