Asteroid NeilYoung (#366487): Between Mars and Jupiter

Asteroid  NeilYoung (#366487):  Between Mars and Jupiter
image via Rusted Moon (Click photo to enlarge)

In the "You Don't See This Everyday" Department ... or more colloquilly ... "So you think you're a big Neil fan, eh?!", here's some news that an asteroid has been officially named after Neil Young.

Per  Rusted Moon, the official announcement came in the WGSBN Bulletin Volume 5, #1 of January 13, 2025, when the minor planet previously known as #366487, is now officially "Neilyoung" – 23 years after its discovery.

From  Rusted Moon:

The celestial body was discovered by German amateur astronomer Maik Meyer, not through a telescope, but more than 23 years ago while reviewing archival data from the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) project at California's Palomar Observatory. Meyer, who as an amateur at the time still had the right to discover from archival data, thus also secured the right to name it. The minor planet had previously been given a provisional number, "2002 NM57," after further observations had determined the object's orbit with great certainty.

According to the guidelines of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the discoverer has the right to propose a name within ten years of the numbering. Maik Meyer submitted his proposal for the final naming at the end of 2024. As a longtime fan of Neil Young, naming the star after the musician was a matter close to the heart of the Saxony native. "Neil's music has accompanied me from my youth to this day—I'll soon be 55—and so the decision was a natural one," Meyer explains to Rusted-Moon.

More details on  Rusted Moon.

animation via Rusted Moon

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