Marcin Odlanicki Poczobut, S.J. joins the ever-growing list of Jesuits who have had asteroids named after them!
Asteroid Citation
(191775) Poczobut = 2004 TQ77Discovery: 2004-10-12 / K. Černis, J. Zdanavičius * / Molėtai / 152
Marcin Odlanicki Poczobut (Lithuanian: Martynas Pocobutas, 1728–1810) was a Lithuanian-Polish Jesuit, astronomer and mathematician who was Director of the Vilnius Astronomical Observatory from 1764 to 1807. He was a professor at Vilnius University for over 40 years, serving as its rector from 1780 to 1799. The lunar crater Poczobut is named after him.
Citation for asteroid (191775) Poczobut appeared in the IAU WGSBN Bulletin V004_006, released 2024-04-29
Asteroid (191775) Poczobut Orbit and JPL Entry
Credit: JPL Small Body Database
Asteroid (191775) Poczobut orbits within the main asteroid belt, with an orbital period of 4.52 years; its orbit is inclined 8.52° to the plane of the ecliptic. The asteroid was discovered on October 12, 2004.
Vilnius Astronomical Observatory
The Vilnius University Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical institutions in Europe. Since its foundation in 1753 the Observatory possessed dozens of telescopes of different sizes and assignments. Some of them survived and are exhibited in the Science Museum in Vilnius University. Click to read more.
Lunar crater Poczobut
Poczobutt is a large lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the northwestern limb in an area occasionally brought into sight due to libration effects.
This is a damaged formation that is partly overlain by several named craters.-Wikipedia
About the Asteroid Discoverers
Dr. Kazimieras Černis
(born November 11, 1958, Vilnius) is a Lithuanian astronomer and astrophysicist, active member of the IAU, and a prolific discoverer of minor planets and comets. He is a chief researcher at the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy (ITPA).
In 2012, he discovered 420356 Praamzius, a trans-Neptunian object and dwarf planet candidate. – Wikipedia
In IAU WGSBN Bulletin V004_006, there were six named asteroids with Černis listed as the discoverer, including (191775) Poczobut.
Dr. Justas Zdanavičius
is a senior researcher at the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy (ITPA). He studies galactic open clusters; Interstellar reddening and extinction, Interstellar clouds; Stellar classification; Black holes: Galactic structure and evolution; Search and positional observations of comets, asteroids and near-Earth objects.
Zdanavičius appears twice in citations in IAU WGSBN Bulletin V004_006 as an asteroid discoverer, including (191775) Poczobut.
Asteroids Named for Jesuits
Br. Bob Macke maintains a graphic showing an ever-growing list of Jesuits who have asteroids named after them – he’s beginning to run out of room!
Asteroids named for Jesuits. Artwork by Br. Bob Macke.
Other Posts About Jesuits with Asteroids Named After Them
Notes from Bob: Wikipedia has two T’s in the last name, IAU/JPL citation has only one. When I searched YouTube for “Marcin Odlanicki Poczobut” I didn’t find anything, but the first suggestion offered was “Comfortably Numb” from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.” Not really sure what that means, other than I listen to rather a lot of Pink Floyd on YouTube…The asteroid image on the cover is a simulation from SpaceEngine.
