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Kollam: In a prestigious honour, the US space agency, NASA has named a ‘minor’ planet after a Kerala zoology professor, Sainudeen Pattazhy, to commemorate his research works in environmental issues. Sainudeen has undertaken studies on the strange phenomenon of red rain and the adverse effects of mobile communication tower on people residing in the immediate areas among other issues.
Sainudeen Pattazhy, who is a college professor in S.N College in Kollam, had a pleasant surprise when he received a phone call from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory run by the space agency to convey the information that the minor planet ‘5178 CD4′ has been named after him. The minor planet will now be known as ‘5178 Pattazhy’. So far, 185,685 minor planets or asteroids in the solar system have been allotted numbers by the International Astronomical Union.
The US-based scientist Rajmohan, who discovered the planet way back in 1989 proposed that the planet be given the name of Sainudeen in appreciation of the research conducted by Sainudeen on various ecological and environmental issues of contemporary relevance. The rare honour has indeed brought accolades to his nondescript village in south Kerala.
