Are there any Celestial Bodies which are named after a Filipino?

“Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are?”

Well, that’s true, people are so fascinated about the stars and some really wanted to have one. Last year, news that caught the attention of the Filipino people; KC Concepcion received a “star” for a gift from her new admirer. A French suitor name Pierre Emmanuel Plazart, writer and director in Los Angeles and Europe bought a star and give it to KC as a gift. Isn’t that romantic? According to the news, Pierre bought the star with certification from International Astronomical Union, Sydney Observatory and cost approximately $200 for the processing of buying the star and names it as KC Concepcion.

But, who can buy or name the star or other celestial objects? Some commercial enterprises purport to offer such services for a fee (just like what Pierre did for KC). However, such “names” have no formal or official validity. According to International Astronomical Union or IAU, an international scientific organization, they associates itself entirely from the commercial practice of “selling” fictitious star names or “real state” on other planets or moon in the solar system. Although, the IAU is legally responsible and internationally recognized authority for naming objects in the sky, they have an internationally accepted rules and guidelines – name are not sold, but assigned. Names are assigned by the IAU are recognized and used by scientists, space agencies, and authorities worldwide. When observing stars and planets or launching space missions to them, or reporting about them in the news, everybody need to know exactly which location or particular name refers to. The names assigned by the IAU are those that are used. (Source: Layman’s Guide to Naming Stars. IAU)

For centuries, some astronomical or celestial objects got their names from Greek and Roman Mythology or some traditional Arabic names. Want to have a celestial objects named after you? Here’s the good news, a minor planets or an asteroid can be name by the discoverer. The discoverer has the privilege of suggesting a name to a special committee of the IAU that judges it suitability. But then again, it is not possible to buy a minor planet. Assigning the name is according to the guidelines of the IAU, minor planets receive a permanent designation – number issued by the Minor Planet Center, examples: 433, 4179 or 50000.  Now, all the proposed names are judged by the fifteen-person working group for Small Body Nomenclature (CSBN) of the IAU, comprised of professional astronomers around the world. (for more scientific explanation, see the theme Naming Astronomical Objects, IAU)

Good news! There is now a growing collection of minor planets that have been named after Filipinos. It began in November 1995, when the IAU named asteroid No. 6282 “Edwelda” in honor of Edwin L. Aguirre and Imelda B. Joson. IAU used the combined first names of the two Filipinos in recognition of their accomplishment in the field of astronomy, including the book they wrote on Haley’s comet that the National Research Council of the Philippines published in 1985. They are also Filipino editors of the Sky & Telescope magazine. Four asteroids that were all discovered in 1998 by Lincoln Laboratory Near-Earth Asteroid Research Team or LINEAR, located in Socorro, New Mexico, USA, was named after the four Filipino and surprisingly, three asteroids were named after young students – isn’t that amazing?

Here are their names:

Ø  13241 “Biyo” is name after Dr. Josette Talamera Biyo, a science high school teacher of Philippine Science High School in Ili-ilo. She was cited for winning the 2002 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Louisville, Kentucky, USA and the first Asian teacher to bag the Intel Excellence in Teaching Award.

Ø  11697 “Estrella” is named after Allan Noriel Estrella, a high school student of Manila Science High School (MaSci), who won the 2002 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair with his project, “A Novel Application of Locally Formulated Cholesteric Crystals in Dosimetry” along with his group mates, Jeric V. Macalintal and Richard K.S. Manapat. They won the First Grand Award Category in Physics that same year.

Ø  12088 “Macalintal” is named after Jeric Valles Macalintal, another high school student of Manila Science High School (MaSci). The said asteroid can be found between the planets Mars and Jupiter.

Ø  12522 “Rara” is name after Prem Villas Fortran M. Rara, student of the Integrated Development School, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology. Rara is also won the Second Grand Award Category in Microbiology 2002 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. His research entitled, “Antibiotic Substance Obtained from the Parotid Gland Scretion of the Toad (Bufo Marinus)”.

Ø  4866 “Badillo” is an asteroid named after a Filipino Jesuit and former director of the Manila Observatory, Father Victor L. Badillo in 2005. According to IAU, asteroid 4866 is given to Badillo because of his contribution in popularizing astronomy to the Philippines for more than three decades and giving inspirations to countless Filipino astronomers after him. He served as the founder and the president of the Philippine Astronomical Society from 1972 to 1990.

Ø  6636 “Kintanar”, an asteroid circling the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter (asteroid belt), measuring 4 to 9 kilometers in diameter is named after Dr. Roman Lucero Kintanar, a 77 year old Filipino scientist and former director of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) from 1958-1994. His long public service and contribution to the modernization and advancement of the Philippine weather forecasting, as well as inspiring other astronomers, put his name to where it is now by the Astronomical League of the Philippines. Kintanar also became the president of the U.N World Meteorological Organization from 1979 to 1987.

Ø  An asteroid will be named after Department of Science and Technology Merit Scholar Miguel Arnold Reyes and a student of Philippine Science High School (PSHS) as he bagged the second grand award in the recently concluded 2011 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held in Los Angeles, California. He participated in the Materials and Bioengineering Category with his project “Synthesis and Characterization of Composite Plastics from Thermoplastic Starch and Nano-sized Calcium Phosphate for Film Packaging”. The said asteroid is laso identified by the Lincoln Laboratory in its Lincoln Near- Earth Asteroid Research Program (LINEAR).

The beauty of the night sky is not for sale, but is free for all to enjoy, like true love and many other of the best things in human life. True, the gift of a star may open someone’s eye to the beauty of the night sky. This is indeed a worthy goal, but it does not justify deceiving people in to believing that real star names can be bought like any other commodity. Now, you want to name a star for you or for your love one? Go out on a clear night with a friend, spouse, lover, or whoever. Look up into the night sky and point to any bright star you like and then name it. It’s free! If you do that with someone you are close to surely that more meaningful than getting someone else to do it for you. It won’t take you long, it’ll mean just as much as if you had find someone to name a star for you. But it won’t cost you any peso!