A researcher at the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics has been honoured by the International Astronomical Union, which has approved the naming of asteroid (20747) Tanialepivert after scientist Tania Le Pivert Jolivet.
The announcement was made during the Asteroids, Comets, Meteors (ACM 2026) conference, held in Poznań, Poland.
The asteroid was originally discovered on 8 January 2000 by the LINEAR (Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research) project at Lincoln Laboratory in Socorro, New Mexico.
The naming recognises Le Pivert Jolivet’s work on primitive asteroids, focusing on their composition to help scientists better understand how the Solar System formed and evolved. Her research combines observations from ground-based and space telescopes using visible and infrared spectroscopy with laboratory analysis of asteroid samples returned to Earth by space missions.
Speaking after receiving the honour, Le Pivert Jolivet said she was delighted by the recognition.
“It is a great honour to receive this recognition at the ACM gala dinner. In an academic environment full of pressure and doubts, it is truly gratifying to be recognised by the scientific community. This serves as a source of motivation to continue my research.”
She becomes the fifth scientist affiliated with the IAC to have an asteroid named in their honour, joining Julia de León, Javier A. Licandro, Miquel Serra-Ricart and Eri Tatsumi.
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