Recently, the Working Group on Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) of the International Astronomical Union released WGSBN Bulletin 6, #10, formally approving the name “Suyi” for asteroid 21272 in recognition of the outstanding contributions of Su Yi, Professor Emeritus of Nankai University’s Department of Information Resources Management, to astronomy education and public outreach over several decades.

The asteroid was discovered on September 18, 1996, at the Xinglong Observatory by the Schmidt CCD Asteroid Program of the Beijing Astronomical Observatory. In the Bulletin, it describes Su Yi (b. 1938), Professor Emeritus at Nankai University and a longtime advocate of astronomy education in China.

In May 2026, Professor Su Yi attended the 30th anniversary celebration of the Nankai University Astronomical Society

Professor Su Yi graduated in 1958 from the astronomy program of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Nanjing University. He later worked at the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Beijing Astronomical Observatory before joining Nankai University’s Department of Library Science, now the Department of Information Resources Management. Alongside his professional courses, he taught general-education astronomy courses open to students across the university for more than two decades. Over 49 semesters at Nankai University and Tianjin University, his courses reached more than 20,000 students. His textbook Introduction to Astronomy has gone through five editions and 32 printings, becoming a widely influential general-education astronomy textbook at Chinese universities. Professor Su Yi also served for many years as chair of the Tianjin Astronomical Society. He has long been committed to public astronomy outreach, delivering popular science lectures and supporting the development of astronomy clubs on university campuses. His contributions have been recognized with a number of honors, including the Second Prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award, the First Prize of the Tianjin Teaching Achievement Award, the Outstanding Contribution Award in Astronomy of the Chinese Astronomical Society, and the title of National Outstanding Science and Technology Research Worker.

Asteroid naming is a distinctive and permanent honor in the international astronomical community. Asteroid Suyi orbits within the solar system’s main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Its naming recognizes Professor Su Yi’s decades of dedication to astronomy education and public outreach, while also serving as a lasting celestial tribute to the contributions of Chinese astronomy educators.

（Edited and translated by Nankai News Team.)