Asteroid discovered by Eric W. Elst of the ROB receives the name Jancuypers

On 30 June 2017, our colleague Dr. Jan Cuypers, who left us on 28 February 2017, was immortalized with the planetoid (23689) Jancuypers.

The announcement was done by the Minor Planet Center and has the following description: “Jan Cuypers (1956–2017) was an astronomer working at the Royal Observatory at Uccle. Involved in several public and astronomical duties at the observatory, he was very much appreciated by all his colleagues.”

The naming took place on Eric W. Elst’s proposal. Elst, former astronomer at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, discovered  the asteroid on 3 May 1997 with the GPO astrograph of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in La Silla (Chili).

More information about the asteroid Jancuypers on the Minor Planet Center website.