The asteroids of the inner Solar System and Jupiter: The donut-shaped asteroid belt is located between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars (Source: Wikipedia); Inset: Thai astronomer Singto, a founder of the Bangkok Planetarium & author of the book Star Tales in the Thai language on astronomy. Although the new minor planet does not have a name, some minor planets have been named such as the asteroid pictured here named 951 Gaspra, the first asteroid imaged by a spacecraft, as viewed during Galileo's 1991 flyby.

Founder of Bangkok Planetarium Thai astronomer Singto Pukahuta who died in 2007 gets small planet named after him to immortalize his name.

ASTRONOMY

19/02/2017 Apinya Wipatayotin

A new minor planet will be named after the famous Thai astronomer Singto Pukahuta.

The minor planet 1989 CN was discovered on Feb 4, 1989, by two Japanese astronomers.

The new minor planet Singto measures 3.96 kilometres in diameter and orbits between Mars and Jupiter (for more info see here, here & here).

Minor planets are defined as large objects in outer space that orbit around the Sun, including asteroids but excluding planets, dwarf planets and comets, "as of 2016, the orbits of 709,706 minor planets were archived at the Minor Planet Center, 469,275 of which had received permanent numbers" (see here).

FAMOUS THAI ASTRONOMER

Singto, who was born in 1915, was a prominent astronomer, educator and author as well as a founder and director of the Bangkok Planetarium and president of the Thai Astronomical Society (TAS).

He wrote Star Tales, which is regarded as one of 100 good books that Thai children should read.

Singto was also former president of the Thai Astronomical Society (TAS).

The astronomer passed away in 2007 at the age of 92.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION BESTOWS NAME ON MINOR PLANET

Wimut Wasalai, a committee member of the TAS, said the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on Feb 12 officially bestowed the name of Singto on minor planet 1989 CN (6125) following the society's request.

Mr Wimut said the IAU gave the TAS the opportunity to name this new minor planet due to it winning the majority of votes for a newly discovered star in late 2015 with the name 47 Ursae Majoris.

100,000 MINOR PLANETS AWAITING NAMES

"It's the first time the society has had the honour of naming a minor planet and the name of Singto came up as he greatly contributed to Thai astronomy," he said.

"Our society is very proud to have his name on the minor planet."

"It will be an inspiration for young Thais to study space and science so that one day new planets may be named after them," he said.

He added that there are about 100,000 minor planets waiting for names.

There are various ways of naming planets including naming contests for the most creative name (see here).

HOW ARE MINOR PLANETS NAMED?

There is a planet named Mongkut in honour of King Rama IV, also known as King Mongkut, who was the father of science.

In total, there are more than 10 minor planets named after Thai people.

However, most of the names are those of ex-students who won science and technology projects.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1200861/tas-bestows-thai-name-on-minor-planet

http://www.tnnthailand.com/news_detail.php?id=129247&t=news

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/02/these-poor-planets-are-why-the-internet-shouldnt-be-allowed-to-name-things/

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=6125

http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=6125

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_belt

as well as : also -

asteroid : any one of the many small planets that go around the sun - 1-480

astronomer : a scientist who studies astronomy, the scientific study of the sun, moon, stars, planets, etc. -

astronomical (adj): connected with astronomy (the scientific study of the sun, moon, stars, planets, etc.) -

astronomy : the scientific study of the stars, planets, and other objects in the universe -

author (noun): a person who writes a book or article - ,

bestowed : (of something valuable or important) given -

comet : a mass of ice and dust that moves around the sun and looks like a bright star with a tail -

contribute : to be a part of a group or an activity and help it to be successful -

contribute to : to help to cause an event or situation -

diameter : the length of a straight line that reaches from one point on the edge of a round shape or object, through its center, to a point on the opposite edge -

director : one of a group of senior managers who run a company -

discover : to be the first person to become aware that a particular place or thing exists -

due to : because of -

educator : teacher -

excluding : not including something - ,

float : to cause to move slowly in the air or on water -

former : of or in an earlier time; before the present time or in the past - ,

founder (noun): a person who establishes an institution, business, or organisation -

honour : an award, official title, etc. given to somebody as a reward for something that they have done - ,

inspiration : someone or something that gives you new ideas or enthusiasm to do something -

majority (noun): more than half of something - ,

measure (verb): to find the size, quantity, etc. of something in standard units - (, , )

minor : not important; small; having little influence or effect -

object : a thing that can be seen or touched, but is not alive - ,

opportunity : a chance to do something, or a situation in which it is easy for you to do something -

orbit : a curved path followed by a planet or an object as it moves around another planet, star, moon, etc - ,

orbit (verb): (of a planet, satellite, etc.) to follow a curved path as it moves around another planet, star, moon, etc -

outer space : the area outside the earth's atmosphere where all the other planets and stars are -

passed away (verb): died - (),,

planet : a large round object in space that moves around a star (such as the sun) and receives light from it -

project : a planned piece of work that is designed to find information about something, to produce something new, or to improve something -

prominent : important and well known - , ,

proud : feeling pleased and satisfied about something that you own or have done, or are connected with -

regarded as : considered to be -

request : an act of asking for something in a formal or polite way -

society (noun): a group of people who join together for a particular purpose -

The rest is here:

Minor planet named after famous Thai astronomer - Bangkok Post