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Printed from: http://petersburgcity.com/news/city/2003/06/04/planet/ City news, 04.06.2003 12:49 Planet "Peterburg 300" in the sky
At the award ceremony on behalf of the City Government and the St. Petersburg Academic Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Nobel prize winner Academician Zhores Alferov presented to St. Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev diploma certifying that the International Astronomy Union gave the name of Peterburg 300 to one of the small planets, marking the city’s 300th anniversary.
Previously the planet was known as N1978 SX2. The decision to change this name was suggested to the International Astronomy Union by the Russian Academy of Sciences. The small planet was discovered on 26 September, 1978, by the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. The new name was proposed in connection with the celebration of the St. Petersburg Tercentenary. The planet’s diameter is about 18 km. Its orbit is situated between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The average distance to the Sun is 476 mln. km.
News source: www.300online.ru
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