Portuguese Astrophysicist Honored with Asteroid Namesake

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has bestowed the honor of naming an asteroid after Pedro Machado, an esteemed astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) within the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon in Portugal. Pedro Machado’s name was chosen amidst a multitude of nominations for asteroids and other small celestial bodies.

The asteroid designated as 32599 Pedromachado, which spans nearly three kilometers in diameter, orbits the sun once every four and a half years. Pedro Machado received this extraordinary recognition from the International Astronomical Union’s Work group for the Nomenclature of Small Bodies (WGSBN 2)., during the ACM Conference (Asteroids, Comets, Meteors) held in Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S.A. The announcement was published in the WGSBN Bulletin.

Pedro Machado specializes in planetary atmospheres, but his name will forever be associated with his significant contributions to the field of asteroid and trans-Neptunian object detection and characterization. This work intersects with the study of planetary atmospheres, as it involves investigating the transition regions between the atmosphere and outer space, known as exospheres, where particles are lost into space.

Expressing his gratitude, Pedro Machado says, “It is an unexpected honor and a great satisfaction to see my name on the list of new asteroids. I am very grateful for this recognition from the scientific community.”

Located in the Asteroid Belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, 32599 Pedromachado was discovered in 2001 through the collaborative efforts of NASA’s Lowell Observatory program Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS).

In accordance with the process of naming astronomical objects, the asteroid was initially designated as 2001 QL160, which represents the year of its discovery, along with letters and numbers indicating the day of the year and the order of discovery. After accurately determining its orbit, the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center assigned it the definitive designation of 32599. Only then was it suitable to propose a name for evaluation by the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclatures.

Pedro Machado’s accolade as an asteroid namesake aligns him with other esteemed IA researchers, Nuno Peixinho and Pedro Lacerda, who had asteroids 40210 Peixinho and 10694 Lacerda named in their honor, respectively.