Colombounilanka: An asteroid named after the University of Colombo

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially named an asteroid to honour the University of Colombo.

The asteroid named “Colombounilanka” last week was discovered by Dr. Nalin Samarasinha, who is a University of Colombo alumnus and fellow astronomer, Dr Tod Lauer in 2000 from the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, USA.

Recently, after its orbit was well established, the asteroid was assigned the number 607372 and the astronomers were granted the official discovery credit. This is the first time a scientist of Sri Lankan- origin has received the discovery credit to name an asteroid.

Colombounilanka is a 1-2 km size asteroid in the mid region of the asteroid belt in our solar system. As such, it is not on a collision course with earth and is always more than 1.4 astronomical units or more than 210 million km away from earth. Colombounilanka takes 4.2 years to make a full journey around the sun in a slightly elliptical orbit. This asteroid can only be seen with a powerful telescope.

Dr. Samarasinha said he decided to name the asteroid after the University of Colombo, in recognition of the university’s contributions to higher education, as a tribute to his university lecturers and as an inspiration for the next generation of students in the country. The University of Colombo recently celebrated the centennial of its founding.