Thursday, December 5, 2024

Amateur astronomer finds 5 fascinating new galaxies — and they’re now named after him

NASAAmateur astronomer finds 5 fascinating new galaxies — and they're now named after him


An amateur astronomer from Italy has discovered five new dwarf galaxies around a distant spiral galaxy — a spiral that’s one of the largest galaxies in the sky over Earth. His name is Giuseppe Donatiello, and those five dwarf galaxies are now named Donatiello V, Donatiello VI, Donatiello VII, Donatiello VIII, and Donatiello IX (Do V, Do VI, Do VII, Do VIII, and Do IX).

“Out of eleven discoveries, nine galaxies bear my name. To my knowledge, I am the first and only amateur astronomer to have galaxies named after them,” Donatiello told Space.com. “It all started with the first discovery in 2016 when, in my astrophotographs, I found what we would call Donatiello I. Although this was an unusual practice, the new galaxy received my name, and it was a great joy.”

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