Asteroid Named After Radio Amateur

[IK0ZCW]

Tuesday, 20 June 2017 16:53
Written by Dennis Green, ZS4BS

The International Astronomical Union on 13 April, rewarded the space physicist and radio amateur Asta Pellinen-Wannberg, SM3UHV, by designating a celestial body in her name, Asteroid 11807 Wannberg.

The Swedish national amateur radio society SSA reports:

Asta Pellinen-Wannberg is a professor at the Department of Physics at Umeå University. She has made a ground-breaking effort to use scattering radar when studying meteors that are activated when small particles penetrate the atmosphere.

The method is now applied to about ten stations around the world. It increases the ability to study different large flows, smaller particles and details in their interaction with the atmosphere, says Asta Pellinen-Wannberg.

Asta is chair of the Swedish National Committee for Radio Science SNRV and has researched together with Gudmund Wannberg, SM3BYA, who served as Technical Manager at EISCAT Radar in Kiruna and Associate Professor at Umeå University.