International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named an asteroid after Prof. Jayant Murthy, who was acting director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) before his retirement in 2021.
The asteroid 2005 EX296 has been designated as (215884) Jayantmurthy. The announcement was made on March 18 by the IAU through its Working Group on Small Bodies Nomenclature.
According to IIA, “This working group is the designated body to provide official names to all asteroids, comets and other small objects in the Solar System. The asteroid (215884) Jayantmurthy was discovered by M.W. Buie at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, USA, in 2005 and has been named after Prof. Murthy in recognition of his work in the NASA New Horizons Science Team to observe the ultraviolet background radiation in the universe. The asteroid goes around the Sun in an orbit that lies between that of Mars and Jupiter once every 3.3 years.”
