Nalin Samarasinha
| Dr Nalin Samarasinha | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sri Lanka |
| Residence | United States of America |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Education |
Nalanda College Colombo University of Colombo University of Maryland, College Park USA |
| Occupation | Astronomer |
| Employer | Planetary Science Institute USA |
| Known for | first native born citizen of Sri Lanka to gain the distinction of having an Asteroid named after him |
| Title | Senior Scientist |
| Religion | Buddhist |
Dr Nalin Samarasinha is a Sri Lankan born Astronomer based in United States of America. Currently he works as a Senior Scientist for Planetary Science Institute.[1][2][3]
Early life
Nalin earned a BSc First Class Honours in Physics from University of Colombo after schooling at Nalanda College Colombo. Later he gained a MSc in astronomy from University of Maryland, College Park USA and followed it up furthering studies graduating with a PhD in Astronomy from the same University in USA.[4]
First Sri Lankan citizen
In 2002, The International Astronomical Union renamed Asteroid (12871) 1998 ML37 found by Lowell Observatory as Asteroid (12871) Samarasinha in honour of Dr Nalin Samarasinha. Dr Samarasinha is the first native born citizen of Sri Lanka to gain the distinction of having an Asteroid named after him.[5]
References
- "Dr.Nalin Samarasinha: What Comets Can Teach Us". wordpress.com.
- "Overview of Dr. Nalin Samarasinha's ISON morphology campaign" (PDF). isoncampaign.org.
- "Sigiriya: Asteroid that's far away". colomboherald.
- "Nalanda College Alumni (Academics)". Nalanda College Colombo.