Asteroids named after people called Niek
(12172) Niekdekort
Niek De Kort (b. 1956) has done outstanding work popularizing astronomy. He authored several books, including one about space research and the course book Modern Astronomy (1980) for a TV course with an enrollment of 25 000 people. The name was suggested by H. van Woerden and A. v. d. Brugge.Discovered 16 October 1977 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T., Palomar