4 asteroids named for amateur astronomer’s great-grandparents
**Update: As this was going to press, Filipp told me he had just officially discovered a 5th asteroid. This near-Earth asteroid is now designated 2024 QS. No word yet on what name he might propose for it.**
Amateur astronomer has asteroids named for great-grandparents
Filipp Romanov is an amateur astronomer living near Nakhodka, Russia, near the Sea of Japan. Self-educated, Filipp has discovered a wide assortment of astronomical objects, including variable stars, binary stars, novas, supernovas and now four asteroids. As the discoverer of the asteroids, he was able to propose names for them. Two asteroids he discovered in 2022 received the names of his great-grandfathers. And in July 2024, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially designated his two newest asteroid discoveries from 2023 with the names of his great-grandmothers.
Filipp is just 27 years old and told EarthSky:
I love to study and popularize astronomy for free. I plan to study as an astronomer at a university in the near future.
How he does it
Filipp, who has been experiencing homelessness since 2017, is currently living with extended family. He makes his discoveries by requesting remote telescope time from large observatories. For example, in 2022, he received some free hours of observing time with the robotic Liverpool Telescope (LT) in the Canary Islands. Automated sky surveys have mapped much of the sky, finding thousands and thousands of asteroids. So Filipp used data from the IAU to find areas of the sky that have not been covered by sky surveys.
In November 2022, Filipp found a couple of unknown asteroids in photographs from the LT that he used to inspect small fields of sky. He tracked these asteroids into December. The IAU’s Minor Planet Database is the worldwide site used to keep tabs on these small bodies in our solar system. They designated Filipp’s discoveries as 2022 WY16 and 2022 WY17. Both of these asteroids had an incredibly faint magnitude of 21 at the time of discovery.
As Filipp explained in an email to EarthSky:
Assigning permanent designations (numbers) to minor planets occurs when their orbits are well known. It usually takes many years after their
discovery. But in the case of these asteroids, they were also in archival images of sky surveys. This made it possible to increase their observation arcs, and so in July 2023 these asteroids received the numbers.
Numbered asteroids can be named, therefore Filipp proposed the names Alekseyvarkin and Nikandrilyich for 2022 WY16 and 2022 WY17, respectively.
Recent asteroid discoveries
More recently, Filipp’s extensive observations using the LT and the iTelescope network of instruments has earned him the discovery of two more asteroids. In July 2024, the IAU made official his suggested names for asteroid 2023 PS3 as Mariyafilippovna and asteroid 2023 SJ76 as Mariyavarkina.
Filipp discovered the asteroid 2023 PS3, or Mariyafilippovna, on August 9, 2023, using the LT. The asteroid has a magnitude of about 20. It circles the sun every 2.56 years, and its size is probably somewhere between 500 and 550 feet (150 and 170 meters).
Filipp discovered asteroid 2023 SJ76, or Mariyavarkina, on September 16, 2023, using a remote iTelescope in the Utah desert. This is a main-belt asteroid with a magnitude of about 20. It orbits the sun every 3.57 years. And according to Filipp, it’s approximately several hundred meters in diameter.
As Filipp said:
There are currently less than 25,000 named minor planets, so this is a rare achievement for an amateur astronomer!
More about the people immortalized with asteroids
Nikandr Ilyich Romanov (1916–1999) was one of Filipp’s great-grandfathers. He was a Chuvash, born in Kozhikovo, near Cheboksary. He studied at veterinary and military schools. After military service, he worked as a foreman. He and his wife raised four children. Filipp said about Nikandr:
He loved to read a lot of newspapers and magazines and had a hobby of beekeeping.
Aleksey Makarovich Varkin (1923–1986) was another of Filipp’s great-grandfathers. Aleksey was a Mordvin, born in Sabanovo, near Penza (Russia). During World War II, he was wounded while rescuing horses and received an award for this act. He raised three children after his pregnant wife died in a bus accident. Filipp said about Aleksey:
He helped people with his advice and deeds, and he was cheerful and loved music.
Mariya Filippovna Romanova (1919–1979) was Filipp’s great-grandmother. She lived in Chuguevka and worked as a secretary-typist and as a clerk. She was awarded the Veteran of Labor medal. Mariya Romanov was Nikandr’s wife.
Mariya Maksimovna Varkina (1922–1962) was another of Filipp’s great-grandmothers. She was a Mordvin from Sabanovo (near Penza). She and her husband lived in Primorsky Krai of Russia. Mariya Varkina was Aleksey’s wife, and Filipp said:
She died tragically while pregnant in a bus accident in Primorsky Krai of Russia.
Bottom line: Amateur astronomer Filipp Romanov has discovered four asteroids and proposed naming them for his great-grandparents, which the IAU accepted.
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