Image Recognition
“An asteroid measuring 2 to 5 kilometers in diameter was recently named after Dr. Thomas W. French, the founding leader and former Assistant Director of MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP). The Paris-based International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially named minor planet 1991 PN2 as “(20010) Tomfrench”. Imelda B. Joson and Edwin L. Aguirre, both former editors of Sky & Telescope magazine, have known Dr. French for 16 years and proposed the naming to the IAU. “This is a completely unexpected and humbling honor,” says Dr. French. According to the WGSBN Bulletin, asteroid (20010) Tomfrench was discovered on August 2, 1991, by the European Southern Observatory in La Silla, Chile.