An asteroid is named after the Catalan scientist Salvador J. Ribas, director of the Parc Astronòmic del Montsec

The celestial object was discovered in 2011 by Catalan astronomer Josep M. Bosch and his collaborator Rosa M. Olivera from their private observatory in Santa Maria de Montmagastrell (Urgell).

It belongs to the main asteroid belt, the largest concentration of small objects in the solar system, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Josep M. Bosch and Salvador J. Ribas (left to right), together with the telescope with which the asteroid was discovered in 2011.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named an asteroid discovered in 2011 after the Catalan scientist Salvador J. Ribas, director of the Parc Astronòmic del Montsec (PAM), managed by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC). The asteroid was discovered by the Catalan astronomer Josep M. Bosch and his collaborator Rosa M. Olivera at the private observatory of Santa Maria de Montmagastrell (Urgell) and has been officially named 689210 Salvadorjribas. With this decision, the IAU, at the proposal of the discoverer, recognizes the career and dedication to astronomy of Salvador J. Ribas, a prominent figure in the field of dissemination and activism in defense of the night sky.

Ribas combines the management of the PAM with teaching at the University of Barcelona (UB), where he is an associate professor. In addition, since 2018 he has been part of the International Astronomical Union, the authority on the names of stars, planets and all kinds of phenomena in astronomy. Also, since August 2024, he has been a member of the organizing committee of the B7 commission, which is responsible for preserving dark skies in observatories around the world.

Positioning of asteroid 689210 Salvadorjribas this Monday, April 28.

Asteroid 689210 Salvadorjribas belongs to the main asteroid belt, the largest concentration of small objects in the solar system that is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. This discovery is already part of the Minor Planet Center, the organization responsible for the cataloguing and archiving of data on minor objects in the Solar System by the IAU. Its orbit and other parameters can be consulted in the Minor Planet Center database here and also at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at this link.

The figure of Josep M. Bosch

The discoverer of the asteroid, Josep M. Bosch, was a professor at the Learning Camp located at the Montsec Astronomical Park (2009-2011), where he worked with Salvador J. Ribas until his retirement in 2011. Both share an interest in and fight for the protection of the nocturnal environment from their activism and research sides, respectively. Bosch, a great admirer of Ribas’ work, proposed the name of his friend and colleague for the celestial object.

Throughout his career, Bosch has located up to 550 asteroids, of which around fifty have been unpublished, which has allowed him to name them.