Now, a planet named after Viswanathan Anand
Friday, 3 April 2015 – 10:22pm IST
Do you believe it? 🙂
Viswanathan Anand has a minor planet named after him. Yes. you heard that right. A minor planet discovered in 1988 has been officially named “(4538) Vishyanand”.
Minor planet (4538), between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter, was discovered on October 10, 1988 by Kenzo Suzuki in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, but had remained unnamed till recently.
The discoverer retains the privilege of suggesting a name for 10 years and a committee chosen from the working group of the International Astronomical Union has the final authority to finally assign a name to a numbered minor planet. Michael Rudenko, committee member of the Minor Planet Center, who was invited to do the honours, decided to name it after the former world chess champion, Chess News reported on April 1.
“The idea of naming a minor planet for Anand was entirely my own,” Rudenko told New Indian Express. “After careful consideration I selected him because in addition to being a great chess player he is also a gentlemen and astronomy enthusiast,” Rudenko said.
Rudenko proposed the name “Vishyanand”, following the rules that require names to be 16 characters or fewer, and preferably without spaces, along with a brief citation explaining the reason for the name. To his delight, the committee gave its approval, and the name has been formally accepted.