Dr Kazimieras Černis, a researcher at the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, Vilnius University (VU), has named seven Trojan asteroids in honour of Lithuanian Olympians – Danas Pozniakas, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Rūta Meilutytė, Mykolas Alekna, Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, Austra Skujytė and Romualdas Ubartas.
Dr Kazimieras Černis. Photo by VU
“Among these sportspeople are athletes from the older generation, as well as those who performed brilliantly at elite sporting events this summer and are thus making Lithuania’s name known around the world. They are huge role models for both fellow athletes and sports enthusiasts. I’ve seen this since I was a child – for example, even as a schoolboy I knew about the boxer Pozniakas, Lithuania’s first Olympic champion, and the boys at school, when playing and pretending to be boxers, would even call each other ‘Pozniakas’. I believe that Olympians are truly worthy of such commemoration,” says the astronomer.
The VU astronomer discovered the asteroids at various observatories. The Trojans “Pozniakas”, “Meilutytė” and “Gudzinevičiūtė” were discovered at the VU Molėtai Astronomical Observatory in 2009, together with VU researcher Dr Justas Zdanavičius, “Alekna” – at the same observatory with Edvardas Černius; “Marčiulionis” was discovered in 2013 at the Baldone Astronomical Observatory in Latvia together with Dr Ilgmārs Eglītis; and in 2015, at the Jesuit Observatory in the Vatican, together with Father Dr Richard P. Boyle, “Ubartas”. The “Skujytė” Trojan was discovered by the Spacewatch astronomical survey project at the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona.
These are not the first asteroids to be named after Lithuanian sports figures by Dr Černis. In addition to these, “Sabonis” and “Vitkauskas” are already orbiting in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU), which assigns names to celestial bodies, has designated a separate group of asteroids, known as Trojans, which may be named exclusively after Olympians.
“The Trojans orbit the Sun for 12 years, alongside Jupiter. They are interesting because they are quite far from Earth and move in different orbits to ordinary asteroids. They used to be named after heroes of the Trojan War, but some time ago it was decided to also name them after Olympians. So now all the large asteroids in this group have Greek names, whilst the smaller ones are named after athletes. One of the first Trojans discovered by my colleagues and me was named after Sabonis,” says Dr Černis.
The asteroid designations were published in the February and May 2026 issues of the WGSBN Bulletin. Since 2004, Dr Černis and his colleagues have named more than 250 asteroids, more than half of which have Lithuanian names or names linked to Lithuanian history.
(724932) “Pozniakas”
According to data from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre database, the asteroid (724932) “Pozniakas” is, on average, 5.3 times further from the Sun than Earth, and orbits the Sun in 12 years and 18 days. Orbital elements of the asteroid: a = 5.257 AV, e = 0.116, i = 28.067°, P = 12.05 m. “Pozniakas” will approach Earth again on 15 April 2027 – the closest distance will be approximately 683 million km. At that time, it will be of approximately magnitude 20, and will therefore be visible through medium-sized astronomical telescopes fitted with CCD cameras. The asteroid will appear in the constellation Virgo, when observing conditions in Lithuania will be among the most favourable.
The International Astronomical Union has announced that the asteroid, whose provisional designation was 2008 SE8 (724932), has been named “Pozniakas” following a proposal by Dr Černis. The citation for the name was published in WGSBN Bulletin 2026.
(765015) “Marčiulionis”
According to data from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre database, the asteroid (765015) “Marčiulionis” is, on average, 5.2 times further from the Sun than Earth, and orbits the Sun in 11 years and 318 days. Orbital elements of the asteroid: a = 5.202 AV, e = 0.0796, i = 8.028°, P = 11.87 m. “Marčiulionis” will approach Earth again on 14 December 2027, with the closest distance being approximately 621 million km. At that time, it will be of approximately magnitude 21, making it visible through medium-sized astronomical telescopes. The asteroid will appear on the border between the constellations of Orion and Taurus, when observing conditions in Lithuania will be among the most favourable.
The International Astronomical Union has announced that the asteroid, whose provisional designation was 2013 RO26 (765015), has been named “Marčiulionis” following a proposal by Dr Černis. The citation for the name was published in WGSBN Bulletin 2026.
(353194) “Meilutytė”
According to data from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre database, the asteroid (353194) “Meilutytė” is, on average, 5.1 times further from the Sun than Earth, and orbits the Sun in 11 years and 234 days. Orbital elements of the asteroid: a = 5.14 AV, e = 0.088, i = 16.234°, P = 11.64 m. ‘Meilutytė’ will approach Earth again on 21 April 2027 – the closest distance will be approximately 611 million km. At that time, it will be of approximately magnitude 20, so it will be visible through medium-sized astronomical telescopes. The asteroid will appear on the border between the constellations of Hydra and Virgo, when observing conditions in Lithuania will be among the most favourable.
The International Astronomical Union has announced that the asteroid, whose provisional designation was 2009 SM100 (353194), has been named “Meilutytė” following a proposal by Dr Černis. The citation for the name was published in WGSBN Bulletin 2026.
(352655) “Alekna”
According to data from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre database, the asteroid (352655) “Alekna” is, on average, 5.2 times further from the Sun than Earth, and orbits the Sun in 11 years and 358 days. Orbital elements of the asteroid: a = 5.235 AU, e = 0.039, i = 12.486°, P = 11.98 m. “Alekna” will approach Earth again on 28 March 2027 – the closest distance will be approximately 659 million km. At that time, it will be of approximately 20th magnitude, making it visible through medium-sized astronomical telescopes. The asteroid will appear in the constellation of Corvus, when observing conditions in Lithuania will be among the most favourable.
The International Astronomical Union has announced that the asteroid, previously designated 2008 QX28 (352655), has been named “Alekna” at the suggestion of Dr Černis. The name citation was published in the WGSBN Bulletin in 2026.
(264068) “Gudzinevičiūtė”
According to data from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre database, the asteroid (264068) “Gudzinevičiūtė” is, on average, 5.2 times further from the Sun than Earth, and orbits the Sun in 11 years and 274 days. Orbital elements of the asteroid: a = 5.17 AV, e = 0.117, i = 8.161°, P = 11.75 m. “Gudzinevičiūtė” will approach Earth again on 9 April 2027 – the closest distance will be approximately 711 million km. At that time, it will be of approximately magnitude 20, so it will be visible through medium-sized astronomical telescopes. The asteroid will appear in the constellation Virgo, when observing conditions in Lithuania will be among the most favourable.
The International Astronomical Union has announced that the asteroid, whose provisional designation was 2009 SQ148 (264068), has been named “Gudzinevičiūtė” following a proposal by Dr Černis. The citation for the name was published in WGSBN Bulletin 2026.
(811110) “Ubartas”
According to data from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre database, the asteroid (811110) “Ubartas” is, on average, 5.2 times further from the Sun than Earth, and orbits the Sun in 11 years and 307 days. Orbital elements of the asteroid: a = 5.194 AV, e = 0.0499, i = 9.242°, P = 11.84 m. “Ubartas” will approach Earth again on 15 May 2028 – the closest distance will be approximately 646 million km. At that time, it will be of approximately magnitude 21, making it visible through medium-sized astronomical telescopes. The asteroid will appear in the constellation Libra, when observing conditions in Lithuania will be among the most favourable.
The International Astronomical Union has announced that the asteroid, whose provisional designation was 2021 RR130 (811110), has been named “Ubartas” at the suggestion of Dr Černis. The citation for the name was published in WGSBN Bulletin 2026.
(545564) “Sabonis”
According to data from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre database, the asteroid (545564) “Sabonis” is, on average, 5.3 times further from the Sun than Earth, and orbits the Sun in 12 years and 40 days. Orbital elements of the asteroid: a = 5.272 AV, e = 0.049, i = 5.023°, P = 12.11 m. “Sabonis” will approach Earth again on 7 January 2028, with the closest distance being approximately 653 million km. At that time, it will be of approximately magnitude 19, making it visible through medium-sized astronomical telescopes. The asteroid will appear in the constellation Gemini, when observing conditions in Lithuania will be among the most favourable.
The International Astronomical Union has announced that the asteroid, previously designated 2011 QA50, has been named “Sabonis” at the suggestion of Dr Černis. The citation for the name was published in the WGSBN Bulletin in 2022.
(22404) “Skujytė”
According to data from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre database, the asteroid (22404) “Skujytė” is, on average, 5.3 times further from the Sun than Earth, and orbits the Sun in 12 years and 15 days. Orbital elements of the asteroid: a = 5.253 AV, e = 0.119, i = 9.301°, P = 12.04 m. “Skujytė” will approach Earth again on 14 April 2027 – the closest distance will be approximately 682 million km. At that time, it will be of approximately magnitude 19, making it visible through medium-sized astronomical telescopes. The asteroid will appear in the constellation Virgo, when observing conditions in Lithuania will be among the most favourable.
The International Astronomical Union announced that the asteroid, whose provisional designation was 1995 ME4, has been named “Skujytė” following a proposal by Dr Černis. The name citation was published in WGSBN Bulletin 2026.
(374131) “Vitkauskas”
According to data from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre database, the asteroid (374131) “Vitkauskas” is, on average, 2.7 times further from the Sun than Earth, and orbits the Sun in 4 years and 183 days. Orbital elements of the asteroid: a = 2.724 AV, e = 0.242, i = 9.139°, P = 4.5 m. “Vitkauskas” will approach Earth again on 28 January 2028 – the closest distance will be approximately 229 million km. At that time, it will be of approximately magnitude 19, and will therefore be visible through medium-sized astronomical telescopes. The asteroid will appear on the border between the constellations of Hydra and Leo, when observing conditions in Lithuania will be among the most favourable.
The International Astronomical Union has announced that the asteroid, previously designated 2004 TS 115, has been named “Vitkauskas” following a proposal by Dr Černis. The citation for the name was published in the WGSBN Bulletin in 2025.