Asteroid named Vaižgantas honors Lithuanian writer

The International Astronomical Union has officially named a newly discovered asteroid ‘Vaižgantas’ in honor of Juozas Tumo-Vaižgantas, a prominent Lithuanian writer, priest, and public figure. The naming coincides with the commemoration of the 157th anniversary of the writer's birth.

The asteroid, previously identified by the temporary reference 2019 RS14 (846464), was first detected on October 6, 2015, at the Baldone Astronomical Observatory in Latvia. The discovery was made by Kazimieras Černis of Vilnius University in collaboration with Latvian astronomer Ilgmārs Eglītis. The initial observation was challenging due to poor weather conditions and limited equipment, which resulted in only three faint images being captured.

Following the initial detection, the discovery was confirmed eight days later by the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, USA, allowing for the precise tracking of its orbit. The asteroid is approximately one kilometer in diameter and follows an elongated orbit, with an average distance from the Sun about 2.6 times that of Earth. It completes one orbit around the Sun every four years and 40 days. The celestial body is expected to make a close approach to Earth on June 16, 2027, at a distance of approximately 151 million kilometers.