The University of Utah may have just redefined the term "satellite campus."
An asteroid has been named "Univofutah" after the school, thanks to local amateur astronomer Patrick Wiggins.
The amateur astronomer, who earlier this year was awarded NASA's highest civilian honor for his work as a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, discovered the asteroid on Sept. 8, 2008. It's original, non-school-spirited moniker was 391795 (2008 RV77)
"It's neat," Wiggins said. "There aren't too many other universities on the whole planet with asteroids named after them. So that puts the U. in rather rarefied company."
Wiggins, who is now a part-time public education assistant for the U.'s Department of Physics and Astronomy, originally submitted the request for the name "Univ of Utah," as the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass. limits the name to 16 characters. The center chose to squish the name together.
"The asteroid is small, no more than 1.2 miles across, and very far away, meaning even the Hubble Space Telescope can't see it well enough to determine its shape. It orbits between Mars and Jupiter, and that distance puts it well out of danger of harming Earth.
"We are very honored," says Carleton Detar, the U.'s chairman of physics and astronomy. "Patrick Wiggins has been a dedicated champion of Utah amateur astronomy. Next, we'll need student volunteers to install a large block U on our asteroid."
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