An asteroid discovered by a Chinese observatory has been named after Peng Huanwu, who made important contributions to the development of China's first atomic and hydrogen bombs.

The asteroid bears the international code No. 48798. The naming has been approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

At a ceremony on Monday, the 91-year-old scientist accepted the certificate to mark the naming of the asteroid from Deng Nan, vice president of the China Association for Science and Technology.

The asteroid was discovered by an observation station of the State Observatory of China in Xinglong County, north China's Hebei Province, on Oct. 6, Peng's birthday, in 1997.

Peng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has been mainly engaged in the basic and applied studies of theoretical physics and has made significant achievements.

He has been honored many times for participating in the design and manufacture of China's first atomic bomb, hydrogen bomb and satellite in the 1960s and early 1970s.

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2006)