Asteroid named after Dutch micrometeorite researcher Astrid Eeuwes

A celestial rock circling the sun was officially named in honor of Dutch amateur scientist Astrid Eeuwes on Monday. She spends her free time examining tiny particles from outer space, collecting and analyzing them after they settle on rooftops and roads here on Earth.

Eeuwes is affiliated with the observatory in Bussloo, in the province of Gelderland. She shares her discoveries of tiny micrometeorites through lectures and social media, helping bring attention to the field. Her efforts earned the Nijmegen researcher an award from the Royal Dutch Association for Weather and Astronomy in 2023.

The asteroid previously known by its scientific label, 2018 BS7, has officially been renamed (585349) Eeuwes. The new name was confirmed by the International Astronomical Union, the organization responsible for naming celestial bodies.

It was discovered in October 2012 by Marco Langbroek, now affiliated with Delft University of Technology, who proposed naming it after Eeuwes. The asteroid is about 1.5 kilometers wide and lies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Millions of asteroids exist within our solar system, though only a few tens of thousands have received official names. Among those honored in this way are Dutch cultural icons, scientists, athletes, and royals, including Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Anne Frank, Johan Cruijff, André Kuipers, and Nobel Prize winners Frits Zernike and Ben Feringa.

One asteroid was named Tijn in 2017, in tribute to a terminally ill boy who inspired the Netherlands with a nail-polish charity campaign for Serious Request shortly before his death later that year.

On Monday, the IAU also honored American cartoonist Charles Addams by naming an asteroid after him. Addams created the darkly humorous Addams Family in the 1930s, and the newly named asteroid similarly serves as the central body of its own asteroid family.

Two related space rocks were named after actresses Carolyn Jones and Lisa Loring, who played Morticia and Wednesday Addams in the 1960s television adaptation of the series.