Named in honor of Keiji Saito, astrophysicist at the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory during 1961–1985 who has studied the physics of comets and meteors. While still a college student, he was an independent discoverer of the nova T CrB at its 1946 recurrence and has inspired many amateur astronomers in Japan. (M 11748) _ _.
Discovered on 4-9-1951 in Heidelberg by Reinmuth, K.