An asteroid has been named ‘Jayantmurthy’ after Indian professor and eminent scientist Jayant Murthy.
He is known for his work in space missions, ultraviolet astronomy, and the interstellar medium.
Previously cataloged as 2005 EX296, the asteroid is now designated as (215884) Jayantimurthy.
The announcement was made by the Working Group of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which is in charge of assigning names to small objects in the Solar System.
In 2005, the Asteroid (215884) Jayantimurthy was discovered by MW Buie at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, United States.
It completes a full orbit around the Sun between Mars and Jupiter every 3.3 years.
In 2021, Professor Murthy retired from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA). Since then, he has served as Honorary Professor.
He was also the acting director of IIA from July 2018 to October 2019.
