A small planet has lately formally been named after Macao, the Special Administrative Region of China. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Macao SAR government held a ceremony to name the planet as "Macao Planet" discovered by Beijing Observatory.
Lu Yongxiang, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, presented a certificate of the naming and a photo of the planet to MSAR Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah.
"Macao Planet" has its accurate orbit specifically located, discovered by Beijing Observatory in January 1997. The small planet was given a permanent number of 8423 by the International Small Planets Center (IMPC) on March 13, 1998. To mark Macao's return to China in 1999, Beijing Observatory applied to name the planet as "Macao Planet", the IMPC approved the naming of the planet.
Ho Hau-wah attended the ceremony and delivered a speech, Wang Qiren, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in MSAR also attended the ceremony.
