Nobel Prize laureate Tu Youyou, along with four other scientists who have won top science and technology awards in China, were honored with asteroids named after them at a ceremony held by the Ministry of Science and Technology on Monday. 

The other four scientists are Xie Jialin, Wu Liangyong, Zheng Zhemin and Zhang Cunhao.

Asteroids are currently the only type of internationally recognized celestial body that can be named at the will of the person who detects them. Each asteroid can only be named once, which makes the gesture a globally recognized honor.

The asteroids that were named on Monday were discovered by National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. They were permanently numbered and named at the approval of the International Astronomy Union.

Among those awarded the honor, Tu is the 2015 recipient of the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine—the first Chinese scientist who has won that award.

Xie and Wu were awarded China’s top science prize in 2011 for their respective groundbreaking achievements in the areas of particle accelerators and architecture.

Zheng received the same prize in 2012 for his expertise in explosion mechanics, while Zhang was honored in 2013 as a pioneer of high-energy chemical lasers and molecular reaction dynamics.

“As a mechanical scientist, this honor has special meaning to me,” Zheng said in his speech during the ceremony, pledging to continue his devotion to science and technology.

The asteroid naming tradition was started in China in 2009. So far, several dozen scientists have received the honor, including 21 winners of top science and technology awards.