Star Trek actor George Takei has been chosen as the namesake of the asteroid formerly known as the 1994 GT9.
The asteroid, located between Mars and Jupiter, has been renamed 7307 Takei in honor of the actor, who is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek series.
"I am now a heavenly body," Takei said while laughing. "I found out about it yesterday.... I was blown away. It came out of the clear, blue sky - just like an asteroid."
PHOTO: AP
The celestial rock, discovered by two Japanese astronomers in 1994, joins the 4659 Roddenberry (named for the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry) and the 68410 Nichols (for costar Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura). Other main-belt asteroids are already named for science fiction luminaries Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.
"It's in general considered quite an honor," Lars Lindberg Christensen, spokesman for the International Astronomical Union, said of the latest renaming.
About 14,000 asteroid names have been approved by the panel, while about 165,000 asteroids have been identified and numbered, he said.
Under the committee's policies, whoever discovers an asteroid has 10 years in which to propose a name. After that, the panel considers other suggestions, although it warns would-be namers to avoid anything "in questionable taste" and any names honoring political or military figures sooner than 100 years after their deaths.
Most recently, the 70-year-old Takei has appeared on NBC's Heroes, playing Hiro Nakamura's father. He also appears regularly on Howard Stern's satellite radio show. (AP)
《星際迷航》演員喬治．武井的名字已經取代原來「1994 GT9」的代號，成為這顆小行星的新名字。
這顆小行星位於火星與木星之間，已經被重新命名為「7307武井」，以表達對這位在《星際迷航》影集裡飾演光．蘇魯的武井的敬意。
武井笑說：「我現在是個天體了。」他說：「我昨天才得知…我很震驚。這[消息]是從晴朗的藍天而來-如一顆小行星般。」
這顆天體巨石是一九九四年由兩名日本天文學家發現的，其他還有以劇集創始人吉．羅登伯里的名字命名的「4659羅登伯里」，及以在劇中飾演尤烏拉的女星尼切爾．尼科爾斯的名字命名的「68410尼科爾斯」。其他在主要小行星帶的小行星也已經以科幻小說傑出作家羅伯特．漢萊與以撒．艾西莫夫之名命名。
據國際天文學聯合會發言人拉爾斯．林德伯格．克里斯騰森在最近的行星命名場合上說：「一般而言，這被認為是份殊榮。」
他說聯合會審查小組已核可大約一萬四千顆小行星的命名，另外還有大約十六萬五千顆小行星已被天文學家們確認並予以編號。
在此委員會的政策下，發現一顆行星的人可以在十年內為之命名。而後，審查小組會考慮其他的意見。不過該小組也提醒準指定命名者應避免任何「會引起質疑」的事物，以及任何頌揚近百年內才過世的政治或軍事人物的名字。
最近，七十歲的武井在美國國家廣播公司的《英雄》電視影集中飾演中村弘的父親。他也定期上霍華德．史德恩的衛星廣播節目。（美聯社／翻譯：艾利斯）
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