[meteorite-list] Asteroid naming

From: Matson, Robert D. <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:10:19 -0700
Message-ID: <9180F6B27399C541B10663E21C8BDE92022AE52E_at_0461-its-exmb09.us.saic.com>

Hi Elizabeth and List,

> Essentially, the discoverer gets to name the asteroid. You can't name
one
> after pets though.

There has been at least one exception to this rule: (2309) Mr. Spock.
This minor planet is actually named for the discoverer's ginger-colored,
male tabby cat. Like his namesake, the feline Mr. Spock was, according
to discoverer James Gibson, "imperturbable, logical, intelligent, and
had pointed ears". The cat accompanied Gibson on astronomical
observations
carried out in the United States, Africa, and South America.

A number of years back, Alain Maury reported to MPML that "Jim had spent
a large number of observing nights with his cat giving him company, and
that as such the cat had helped him much more than the observatory's
director, and therefore had contributed more to the study of the solar
system than many administrative personnel :)"

--Rob
Received on Wed 29 Jun 2011 05:10:19 PM PDT