Asteroids named for Western University Astronomers

Four astronomer faculty members in the department of Physics and Astronomy each have a new asteroid which has been given their namesake. The asteroids, originally discovered by Physics & Astronomy professor Paul Wiegert through the Mauna Kea observatory are named for his colleagues within the department:

(281067) Barmby = 2006 KU130
Discovery: 2006-05-25 / P. A. Wiegert / Mauna Kea / 568
Pauline Margaret Barmby (b. 1972) is a Canadian astronomer known for her work on star
formation and stellar populations in nearby galaxies. She obtained her PhD from Harvard in 2001
on globular clusters in the Andromeda Galaxy. She became the Chair of the Department of Physics
and Astronomy at the University of Western Ontario in London Canada in 2022.

(282630) Caroljones = 2005 RL50
Discovery: 2005-09-03 / P. A. Wiegert / Mauna Kea / 568
Carol Evelyn Jones née Millar (b. 1958) is a Canadian astronomer whose research focuses on
circumstellar disk-like distributions of material, computational astrophysics, emission-line stars and
Be stars. She was the Chair of the International Astronomical Union's Division G Working Group
on Active B stars from 2015 to 2021.

(290156) Houde = 2005 QL183
Discovery: 2005-08-27 / P. A. Wiegert / Mauna Kea / 568
Martin Houde (b. 1963) is a Canadian astronomer studying the physical processes involved in
the formation of stars. He completed his PhD in Physics at the Université de Montréal in 2001. His
research spans magnetic fields and turbulence in molecular clouds, the polarization of molecular
spectral lines, astronomical instrumentation and super-radiance.

(290181) Sigut = 2005 RZ50
Discovery: 2005-09-03 / P. A. Wiegert / Mauna Kea / 568
Thomas Allan Aaron Sigut (b. 1966) is a Canadian astronomer who completed his PhD at the
University of Toronto on infrared Rydberg transitions in B stars in 1995. He is known for his
research on circumstellar disks around hot stars, classical Be stars, Herbig Ae/Be stars and non-LTE
radiative transfer as applied to precise stellar abundance determinations

A CBC News interview with Department Chair Pauline Barmby is available here, and complete details for the naming of these minor planets can be found in the IAU Working Group on Small Bodies Nomenclature Bulletin Volume 3, #3.