An asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter has been named after Malala Yousafzai. The Nasa astronomer who discovered it five years ago said she chose the name to honour the 17-year-old Nobel Prize winner.

• Dr Amy Mainzer, who works at the space agency’s jet propulsion laboratory in California, said she was inspired by a colleague who pointed out that of the many named asteroids, few honoured the contributions of women and even fewer were from ethnic minorities.
• Malala, co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, was shot in the head in an attempted assassination attempt by the Pakistani Taliban on a school bus in 2012.
• She was targeted for her campaign against the extremist group’s crackdown on girls’ education, following years of blogging and interviews.
• After emergency medical treatment in the UK, Malala took the issue to the United Nations and beyond and now heads a charity supporting education for girls worldwide.
• Dr Mainzer said she hoped the asteroid’s name would remind young people that “science and engineering are for everyone”.
• The scientist discovered Asteroid 316201 on 23 June 2010 and has the right to name it under International Astronomical Union rules.
• The black rock is four kilometres wide and orbits the sun every five-and-a-half years as part of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.