An asteroid named after Malala Yousafzai; astronomer calls it Asteroid 316201

Islamabad, April 11: Few days after a minor planet discovered by Kenzo Suzuki of Toyota, Japan, was officially named after Viswanathan Anand, now, an asteroid has been named after the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner and girls' education campaigner Malala Yousafzai.

Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, named Asteroid 316201 after Malala, Dawn online reported Friday.

He said, "It is a great honour to be able to name an asteroid after Malala. My postdoctoral fellow Dr. Carrie Nugent brought to my attention the fact that although many asteroids have been named, very few have been named to honor the contributions of women (and particularly women of color)."

Mainzer discovered the asteroid in the Main Belt between Mars and Jupiter which gives her the right to name it. It orbits the Sun every 5.5 years.

A few days ago, Viswanathan Anand who was till date known as the World Chess grandmaster, added yet another feather in his cap. He became the first Indian after whom a planet has been named in our solar system.

On April 1, the planet which is between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and remained unnamed for more than 10 years, was named after the five-time world chess champion by the Minor Planet Centre, proposed by Michael Rudenko, a committee member at the Centre.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from agencies)