He Xiantu, a native of Ningbo and a leading Chinese scientist in nuclear weapon studies. [Photo/ zj.zjol.com]

He Xiantu from Zhenhai district, Ningbo, a renowned physicist, was recently granted the honor to have an asteroid named after him as recognition of his outstanding achievements in China's nuclear weapon studies, according to an announcement released by the IAU Minor Planet Center on Sept 25. 

The asteroid, named 079286 Hexiantu, was discovered in 1995 by the Beijing Schmidt CCD Asteroid Program, an astronomical survey conducted during the 1990s to search for near-Earth objects. 

Due to the significance, uniqueness and permanence of the asteroid names, having an asteroid bearing one's name thus represents a lofty honor for the person, who is normally regarded to have made outstanding contributions in a certain field.

Having graduated from the department of physics at Zhejiang University in 1962, He Xiantu was selected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1995, and is now a member of the China Academy of Engineering Physics, the nation's sole unit for nuclear weapon production.

He has devoted decades of his life to studies focusing on atom, hydrogen and neutron bombs, and is particularly experienced in the field of inertial confinement fusion (ICF).

He led the nation's ICF research in the 90s, when ICF in China still had a weak foundation, and made multiple technological breakthroughs in this field.

Besides undertaking national projects, He also conducted basic research, supervised students and cooperated with partners to have published nearly 300 scientific papers in leading physics journals such as Nature Physics. 

For He, basic research and practical work are what really matters for science. It is an innovation-driven way to keep raising questions during scientific practices and try to get the correct answer, according to He.