Vitebsk amateur astronomer discovers new asteroid

October 9, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. Vitebsk amateur astronomer Vitaly Nevsky has discovered an asteroid and named it in honor of his astronomy teacher Vladimir Golubev. The International Astronomical Union has registered the discovery, assigned it a serial number, and approved the name - 216837 Golubev (2009 HJ58). The discoverer himself informed a BELTA correspondent about this. This is the first case in the history of domestic astronomical science when such a discovery belongs to an amateur astronomer. According to him, he first discovered this celestial body in the summer of this year in his own observatory, which is equipped in the suburbs of Vitebsk. As a rule, to confirm the discovery of a new asteroid, observations must be carried out for 3-6 years to accurately calculate its orbit around the Sun, that is, the asteroid must become recognizable. Vitaly Nevsky was lucky: historical observations of this celestial body were found in the database of the Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (USA), where data on observations of small bodies of the Solar System are accumulated. So, effectively, three months after the discovery, the Minor Planet Center confirmed the success of the Vitebsk astronomer and assigned the asteroid a serial number. After a minor planet receives a permanent designation, its discoverer has the right to propose a name for it. After consulting with his colleagues, Vitaly Nevsky decided to name the asteroid in honor of his astronomy teacher Vladimir Golubev as a specialist who does a lot to popularize astronomical science. The International Astronomical Union agreed with his reasoning. According to Vitaly Nevsky, today he has five more new asteroids, which have so far received preliminary designations from the Minor Planet Center. The process of confirming the discovery is currently underway, and if he is lucky, new "Belarusian" asteroids may soon appear in the sky. -0-