Asteroid named after Lithuania's Patron Saint

St Casimir

Source: University on Vilnius

A recently-discovered asteroid (635483) has been named after St Casimir, Lithuania's patron saint, whose feast is celebrated today.

The asteroid was discovered by Dr Kazimieras Černis of Vilnius University, together with Latvian astronomer Dr Ilgmārs Eglītis in 2013 at the Baldone Astronomical Observatory in Latvia.

Dr Černis said: "We discovered the asteroid in 2013 at the Baldone Astronomical Observatory in Latvia together with Dr Ilgmārs Eglītis. It will be clearly visible again in September this year in the constellation Pisces, near the border of the constellation Aquarius."

This is not the first time Dr K Černis has initiated the commemoration of important Lithuanian nobles and saints in space. The scientist and his colleagues have named over 150 asteroids, 100 of which have Lithuanian names or names related to Lithuanian history.

"I chose to name the asteroid in honour of St Casimir because of his historical and religious significance. Unfortunately, due to restrictions imposed by the International Astronomical Union, which registers the names of celestial bodies, my proposal to indicate in the name that it refers specifically to St Casimir was rejected, so it was named 'Casimir' rather than 'St Casimir,' without any indication of his status as a saint. I have already named other asteroids after kings and dukes, such as Algirdas and Vytautas. There are also asteroids which I named after saints who lived or visited Lithuania, such as St Faustina who lived in Vilnius, and the Polish Saint Urszula Ledóchowska," said Dr K Černis.

Read more about St Casimir: www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/69