Asteroid Named After Filipino Scientist

Asteroid # 6636 is no longer a nameless rock orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. It has been named by the International Astronomical Union last April 2 - and after a Filipino scientist at that.

Roman Kintanar, the physicist the asteroid was named after, is a former head of the Philippine weather service PAGASA, serving the agency from 1958 to 1994.

Now known as 6636 Kintanar , the asteroid discovered by by Bulgarian astronomer Vladimir Georgiev Shkodrov on Sept. 11, 1988. It is around 4-9 kilometers in diameter, and revolves around the Sun at an average distance of 338 million kilometers. It takes 3.4 years for it to complete one orbit around the sun.

Kintanar now joins Filipino scientists Fr. Victor Badillo, Emelda Joson, and Edwin Aguirre of having asteroids named after them.