The international conference Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2026, organised by our Institute, featured a particularly pleasant highlight. During the gala dinner held on 9 July, decisions published that same day in the latest bulletin of the Working Group on Small Bodies Nomenclature — a working group of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) — were announced. Volume 6, issue 11 of the bulletin approved 208 new asteroid names.
We are especially proud that six of the asteroids were given names derived from the names of people with strong ties to our centre. This distinction honours both current members of the Institute’s staff and outstanding astronomy graduates who studied in Poznań.
Newly named asteroids and the people honoured:
- (20280) Colazo — Dr Milagros Colazo
Milagros Rita Colazo is an Argentinian astronomer specialising in the study of small Solar System bodies. She earned her PhD in 2023 from the National University of Córdoba and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Her research focuses on asteroid phase curves, photometry and large sky surveys, including the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). - (20322) Emilwilawer — Dr Emil Wilawer
Emil Wilawer is a Polish astronomer studying the physical properties of asteroids. He specialises in determining asteroid phase curves using dense light curves and sparse survey data, including observations from the Gaia mission. - (20446) Karolinadziadura — Dr Karolina Dziadura
Karolina Jadwiga Dziadura is a Polish astronomer who earned her PhD in planetary astronomy from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań in 2024. Her research focuses on the Yarkovsky effect, asteroid densities, and determining the sizes, spin states and shape models of minor planets using stellar occultations and photometric data. - (20459) Krzysztoflangner — Dr Krzysztof Langner
Krzysztof Langner is a Polish astronomer studying asteroid dynamics. His recent research focuses on the Didymos–Dimorphos binary asteroid system and the related DART and Hera space missions. - (20551) Monikakamińska — Monika Kamińska, MSc
Monika Kamińska is a Polish astronomer working at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. She has been involved in asteroid observations for many years and is currently responsible in particular for observations carried out with the Roman Baranowski Telescope (Poznań Spectroscopic Telescope 2) at Winer Observatory in Arizona, USA. - (20636) Romanhirsch — Roman Hirsch, MSc
Roman Hirsch is a Polish astronomer working at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. For many years, he has been involved in asteroid observations conducted at Borowiec Observatory. He is currently also involved in observations carried out with the Nordic Optical Telescope on La Palma.
The new names provide another exceptional highlight following the decisions announced on 21 June 2023. They are a wonderful testament to the contribution of the Poznań astronomical community to research on small Solar System bodies.
The complete list of names and the official citations were published in WGSBN Bulletin, volume 6, issue 11, dated 9 July 2026.
The current list of asteroids associated with Poznań is available at this link.
2026-07-09, AK,DO