AN ASTEROID has been named after the founder of the Spaceguard Centre in Knighton, because of his great service to space observation.
The asteroid that circles the Sun between Mars and Jupiter was discovered in 2000 by the Spacewatch project based at Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, and they recommended the name Jay Tate, founder of the Spaceguard Centre, to the International Astronomical Union who are in charge of naming asteroids.
Originally designated “2000 DZ12” the asteroid has now been given the name “15116 Jaytate”.
The citation submitted to the International Astronomical Union said that Jay is “an enthusiastic advocate of the search for hazardous Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) and founder of Spaceguard-UK and the Spaceguard Centre in Wales, UK.
"The Centre provides astrometry of NEOs and is unique in the UK in informing the public about the NEO hazard.”
After spending 26 years as an army officer, Mr Tate established Spaceguard UK in January 1997.
Thanks to the efforts of the members, the subject of Spaceguard has been publicly debated in both Houses of Parliament, and Tate has been a regular contributor on television and radio, also in professional and popular journals.
Jay said: “It’s rather nice to have this asteroid named after me. This is official, it’s not like buying a star name.”
In 2001 Jay and his wife Anne established the astronomical observatory Spaceguard Centre near Knighton.
The Centre is dedicated to the study of asteroids and comets that could hit the Earth.
It is part of the international project set up to find and track them, and to plan ways to stop such a catastrophe happening.
The Centre is currently focussed on Project Drax, the installation of a 24-inch Schmidt Camera.
When it is operational, the Spaceguard Centre will have the only integrated asteroid detection and tracking programme in Europe.
With a host of intriguing exhibits that include meteorites, an orrery, a small planetarium, and a number of telescopes the Spaceguard Centre is a fascinating place for visitors of all ages and experience.
Jay Tate is also a member of the board of directors of the international Spaceguard Foundation, a consultant to the International Astronomical Union Working Group on NEOs, an associate of COSPAR, the vice-president of the Space Development Council and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
He is the co-ordinator of the Comet and Asteroid Information Network (CAIN) and leads the International Spaceguard Information Centre.