China News Service, Yichang, September 9 (Zou Manlu) According to the news from China Three Gorges University on September 9, the asteroid with the international number 216319 discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on October 10, 2007 has been awarded the International Small The Planetary Committee (CSBN) approved it and officially named it "Three Gorges University Star" (English name: San Xia), and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially released it in the "Small Celestial Body Naming Bulletin" in September 2021.
The "Three Gorges University Star" has a period of 4.23 years, the semi-major axis of the orbit is 2.6 times the distance between the sun and the earth, and the orbital inclination is 15.9 degrees.
China Three Gorges University submitted an application to the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in June 2018. In September of the same year, the Purple Mountain Observatory officially recommended it to the International Asteroid Nomenclature Committee, which was officially approved this year.
Three Gorges University is located in Yichang City, Hubei Province. It is a university jointly established by the Ministry of Water Resources and the People's Government of Hubei Province.
In recent years, the school has made active explorations in the field of astronomy. The research team has achieved good results in self-measurement, astronomical image processing, wide-range binary stars, and the structure and evolution of the Milky Way. In 2018, it cooperated with the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The "Astronomy and Space Science Research Center of Three Gorges University" was established to actively carry out activities in the joint training of graduate students in astronomy and related disciplines, mutual employment of professionals, and frontier research in astronomy.
It is understood that asteroids are currently the only celestial bodies of all types that can be nominated according to the wishes of the discoverer and have been reviewed and approved by international organizations to be internationally recognized.
Due to the uniqueness and permanent immutability of asteroid naming, it is generally only awarded to units or individuals that have made significant contributions to economic, social, astronomical and other undertakings.
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