At the Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2002 meeting in Berlin I was honored to have an asteroid named after me! Its designation is 12566 Derichardson (also 1998 SH54 or 1978 EV9), most recently "discovered" by the LONEOS team Sept 16, 1998 at Anderson Mesa.
I don't have a picture of the asteroid yet, and we don't know much about it except that it's probably about 10 km in diameter. However, orbital information along with a nifty visualization is available here at JPL's NEO page.
Also, there's a nice writeup here at the RASC's page on asteroids named after Canadian astronomers.
I was even mentioned in President Mote's speech! (president of the University of Maryland at College Park).
I'll add more information about 12566 Derichardson to this page as I get it!
Other faculty members and graduates of the department have had asteroids named after them. Surf here for a list! (Scroll to the bottom of the page.)
| Last modified: Apr 28, 2003 |
|