The name was chosen by the American amateur astronomer David Levy who discovers the asteroid
An asteroid that was discovered about 9 years ago will now bear the name of... the Hebrew University. The asteroid, until now named 271763, was discovered in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter in observations made by an amateur astronomer from Arizona, David Levy, with his wife Wendy and Tom Galinus from Canada.
Levy is considered one of the most successful amateur astronomers in the world, and was involved in the discovery of 22 comets and asteroids. 3 years ago he completed a PhD in the Department of English Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and studied the description of the night sky in the writings of Shakespeare and other authors. He asked to honor the university for the time he spent in Jerusalem, and the Names Committee for Small Celestial Bodies approved his request to call the asteroid "Hebrew U" after rejecting the name "Hebrew University" on the grounds that it was too long
So far, only a few celestial bodies have been named after institutions and personalities from Israel, including the asteroids "Jerusalem", "Ilan Ramon" and "Efraim Kishon". As well as asteroids named after several Israeli physicists: Yoel Rakah, Amos de Shalit, Ilan Manolis, Dina Prielnik, David Polischuk, as well as after Polischuk's wife - Dr. Talia Jacobi.
Avi Blizovsky adds: Levi became famous as one of the discoverers of the comet Shoemaker-Levy-9 that crashed into Jupiter in 1994, leaving a spectacular show of impact in the cloud cover that was also well observed by amateurs from Earth.
And another note: As mentioned, the Israeli astronomer Ilan Manolis also had an asteroid named after him in 2000. The asteroid itself was discovered in 1994 by the couple Eugene and Caroline Shoemaker - Levy's partners in the discovery of the comet that crashed into Jupiter a few months earlier.
