“A special Honour to Indian Music’: Minor planet named after Indian musician

In giving a special honour to Indian music, the International Astronomical Union has named a minor planet the name of a Indian musician.

The asteroid between Mars and Jupiter has been named after Pandit Jasraj, the legendary Indian classical musician. This minor planet was discovered on November 11,2006. This asteroid was discovered by Catalian Sky Survey in Arizona, USA.

Usually the minor planets are given permanent numbers by the IAU. The number given to this planet was 300128. This number is a reverse order of the date of birth of Pandit Jasraj that is 28/01/1930. As of September there are around 5,41,131, numbered minor planets of a total of 7,97,078 observed bodies.

Pandit Jasraj the legendary Hindustani musician has received numerous titles and honours including Padma Vibhushana. He belongs to Mewati Gharana age of music. With this honour Jasraj become the first Indian musician to join the galaxy of immortal musicians like Mozart, Bethoven and Pavarotti.