An asteroid that circles the Sun between Mars and Jupiter has been given a new name.
The ancient remnant of a planet that never happened was discovered in 2000 by the Spacewatch project based at Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona. Originally designated 2000 DZ12 the asteroid has now been given the name 15116 “Jaytate”.
The citation submitted to the International Astronomical Union reads:
“The following citation is from MPC 75548:
(15116) Jaytate = 2000 DZ12
Jonathan Tate (b. 1955) is an enthusiastic advocate of the search for hazardous Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) and founder of Spaceguard-UK and the Spaceguard Centre in Wales, UK. The Centre provides astrometry of NEOs and is unique in the UK in informing the public about the NEO hazard.”
