Newly discovered asteroid named for Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel

Last May, a minor planet-also known as an asteroid-discovered by an amateur astronomer was officially named "Eliewiesel" in honor of 1986 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Boston University Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities Elie Wiesel (Hon.'74).

Elie Wiesel. Photo by BU Photography

R. E. Jones, from Santa Clarita Valley, Calif., discovered the two-mile diameter minor planet in August 2004 from the small Francisquito Observatory. Jones, who provides catalogue information for NASA on potentially dangerous asteroids, was making photographic measurements of another near-Earth asteroid when he spotted the new minor planet in his photographs.

After six years of constant observations and calculations by professional observatories, including MIT's LINEAR facility, in New Mexico, and Kitt Peak, in Arizona, Solar System object 2004PC27 was confirmed, and Jones was given the opportunity to name his discovery.

Jones chose the name, he says, because he admires Wiesel's humanitarian work, especially against genocide. The name "Eliewiesel" was approved by the 15-member Committee on Small Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union in May. Wiesel joins a select group of well-known individuals who have had minor planets named in their honor, among them Albert Einstein and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Source: Nicole Rojas
BU Today