The Ceres Connection is a cooperative program between MIT's Lincoln Laboratory

Lincoln Laboratory

MIT Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a United States Department of Defense research and development center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Research and development activities focus on long-term technology development as well as...

 and the Society for Science and the Public dedicated for promoting science education. It names asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

s discovered through LINEAR

Linear

In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...

 after students and teachers who performed outstandingly in these Society for Science and the Public competitions: the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge

Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge

The Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge is an annual science and engineering research and exhibit competition for students in grade 5 through 8 and was created in 1999. It is sponsored primarily by Discovery Communications, Society for Science and the Public, and Elmer's Glue...

, the Intel Science Talent Search

Intel Science Talent Search

The Intel Science Talent Search , known for its first 57 years as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search is a research-based science competition in the United States for high school seniors. It has been referred to as "the nation's oldest and most prestigious" science competition. In his speech...

, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair is the largest pre-college scientific research event in the world, and is owned and administered by the Society for Science & the Public a 501 non-profit organization based in Washington, DC...

, and the Intel Excellence in Teaching Award.

Since 2002, over 200 asteroids are named each year through this program.

See also

• Naming of asteroids
• Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research
  Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research
  The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project is a cooperative project between the United States Air Force, NASA, and MIT's Lincoln Laboratory for the systematic discovery and tracking of near-Earth asteroids. LINEAR was responsible for the majority of asteroid detections since 1998 until...
  
  
• Society for Science and the Public