最近,从大洋彼岸传来一个令人振奋的喜讯:为表彰中国科普作家李元、卞德培对科普事业做出的贡献,国际天文学联合会小行星命名委员会通报决定,将两颗永久编号为6741、6742号的小行星以他们的名字命名。茫茫太空缀着无数的星星。自1801年意大利天文学家皮亚齐发现了谷神星之后,至今国际天文学界已发现7000多颗行星。1994年三四月间,日本北海道北见观测所的天文学家丹馆金和渡边和郎先后在木星与火星之间的太空中,发现了两颗新的 Recently, an exciting piece of good news came from the other side of the ocean. In recognition of the contribution made by Chinese popular writers Li Yuan and Bian Teipei to the cause of science popularization, the International Astronomical Union Committee for Asteroid Nominating Committee informed the decision that two permanent codes of 6741, The 6742 asteroid is named after them. The vast expanse of space filled with innumerable stars. Since the discovery of Ceres by the Italian astronomer Piazzolca in 1801, so far the international astronomy community has discovered more than 7,000 planets. In March and April 1994, astronomers Dan Kuan Kim and Watanabe and Lang of the Kitami Observatory in Hokkaido, Japan, discovered in the space between Jupiter and Mars two new