Asteroid Named After Latvian Film Director Jānis Streičs

Discovery and Naming

On the night of October 9, 2018, a new moving object was spotted in the main asteroid belt by the Baldone Astrophysical Observatory of the University of Latvia. It received the temporary designation 2018 RG17. After several years of observations, in June of this year the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved a permanent number and name proposed by discoverer Ilgmārs Eglītis. The object is now officially called (790358) Jānisstreičs, honoring the acclaimed Latvian film director Jānis Streičs.

Ilgmārs Eglītis, leading researcher at the University of Latvia Institute of Astronomy, explained that the name was chosen to honor the director’s skill in portraying Latvian life across historical periods with wit and artistic subtlety. Eglītis personally favors Streičs’ films “Limousine in the Colour of Midsummer Night”, “Mill of Fate”, and “Rūdolfs’s Legacy”.

Characteristics of the Asteroid

Asteroid (790358) Jānisstreičs has a diameter of approximately one kilometer and completes an orbit around the Sun in 5.36 years. It moves along an elliptical orbit with an eccentricity of 0.16, at an average distance of 2.58 astronomical units (about 387 million kilometers) from the Sun – situated between Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt.

At the time of discovery, the object was 26 degrees above the horizon in the constellation Aries and appeared as a moving dot of magnitude 21.3 with the Baldone Schmidt telescope. Precise coordinate measurements were provided in collaboration with astronomer Kazimieras Černis of Vilnius University; a total of 102 measurements from eight oppositions allow predicting the object’s position with an accuracy of 0.9 arcseconds over a century.

Such a tribute not only honors a cultural figure but also promotes international recognition of Latvian science and culture.