Ceremony of the Institute's 50th Anniversary and the Naming of a minor planet (85472: Xi Zezong)

On August 17, 2007, the institute celebrated its 50th anniversary and the naming of a minor planet (85472: Xi Zezong). Many well-known scholars, some leaders of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the institute's staff participated the ceremony.

And on the ceremony, the news was announced that the new minor planet in the solar system, No. 85472, was named Asteroid Xi Zezong after Academician Xi Zezong by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for his distinguished research in astronomy and history of astronomy. it was declared by Liu Xiaoqun, Deputy Director of National Astronomy Observatory of China, which discoverd the planet on June 9, 1997, the same day of Xi's 70th birthday.