Newly-discovered asteroids named after Jesuits — and a pope

Catholic News Agency, Jonah McKeown:

The Vatican Observatory announced this week the naming of four newly-discovered asteroids after notable Catholics, including Pope Gregory XIII, who began the tradition of papal astronomers and observatories.

Christopher Graney, a scientist at the Vatican Observatory, said in a press release that the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) of the International Astronomical Union published its latest batch of named asteroids in early February. Report is here.