The Minor Planet Center announced on Nov 11th 2000 that they have accepted the proposal to name Minor Planet (5038) 1948 KF "Overbeek" in honour of the South African amateur astronomer Danie Overbeek.

The citation reads

Michiel Daniel Overbeek
Born September 15th 1920.
Prolific South African observer of variable stars and occultations.
A past president of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa and director of its occultation section, he is actively involved in fostering amateur astronomers in Southern Africa.

Danie Overbeek, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, is an active amateur astronomer who has amassed over 250,000 variable star observations, mostly from his home in Edenvale. He has also contributed to astronomy through observations of occultations of stars by the moon as well as monitoring the disappearance of stars when minor planets pass between them and the Earth. In addition he monitors the state of the earth's magnetic field with a homemade magnetometer and also studies solar flares with a SID/SES radio receiver.

He has been president of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa on two occasions, a rare feat, and has been honoured by various astronomical bodies around the world, including the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), ASSA, and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

At a special meeting of the Johannesburg Center of the Astronomical Society held at the old observatory in Johannesburg on Saturday Nov 11th, Professor Brian Warner of UCT presented Danie with a plaque commemorating the nomination. The audience gave Danie a standing ovation when the surprise announcement was made.

How do these things happen?

What you do is this. You have a look at the list of minor planets discovered in Johannesburg and you find that there were 146 of them. When you study their names you find out that there are 4 of them that never received names. This usually comes about because the asteroid doesn't receive official recognition until it's orbit has been fully determined and this could take years to do as some of these little rocks get lost soon after discovery. So then you make enquiries with the Minor Planet Centre

(MPC) about the procedure and find out that if the discoverer fails to name a minor planet within 10 years of discovery then he loses the right to name it and it is "open game" for anyone to name it. It is very easy then to put forward a proposal, which has to be done in a certain way, and wait for approval. If your nomination is relevant and serious and honours a prominent figure, like Danie Overbeek, then it is formality for the committee to approve your idea.

Then your problems start. How to keep it a surprise and arrange a function where you can make an announcement? Firstly you have to get your timing right. The MPC make their monthly announcements at Full Moon. So your function HAS to be on that day, otherwise the whole world gets to hear about it before you can pop the surprise. Then you have to get a prominent speaker who is available on the day and who better than Prof Brian Warner. So your number one choice of speaker agrees to attend. All you then have to do is raise some money and motivate a couple of people to help you, invite some spectators and, hey presto, you have a magnificent function!!

It's a piece of old tacky.

Brian Fraser