Posted on by Fraser Cain

Announcing Asteroid 158092 Frasercain

[/caption]

Well, I’ve just been accepted into an elite club of people with astronomical objects named after them. And no, my Mom didn’t name a star after me. The asteroid hunting team of David Healy and Jeff Medkeff have collectively discovered 487 asteroids, and designated 62 of them. You might already recognize some of asteroid names: Philplait, Paulmyers, Rebeccawatson, and Derekcolanduno.

At the end of August I received an email from David Healy notifying me that I was a new member of the asteroid club.

Asteroid 158092 Frasercain was officially designated on August 21, 2008. You can see the full list of named asteroids here – scroll down to see Frasercain. And you can see its current position in the Solar System here.

Those of you who know Jeff Medkeff will know the sad part of this story. Jeff, aka “The Blue Collar Scientist”, passed away on August 3rd from complications with liver cancer – he was 39. I’ve got to be honest and tell you that I didn’t know Jeff. We clearly ran in similar circles, but it wasn’t until Phil, Pamela and other people in the space blogging community informed me of his death that I found and read through his blog; I really wish I’d found it earlier.

If you haven’t already, please visit the Blue Collar Scientist blog. And you can read a very moving blog entry fulfilling Jeff’s last request.

So to Jeff and David, thank you very much for this incredible honour – I promise this won’t go to my head… much.

26 Replies to “Announcing Asteroid 158092 Frasercain”

  3. Congrats Fraser. First an asteriod, next up, the FraserCrain exoplanet…no doubt full of hot air 🙂

    Once again congrats, and great blog about Jeff…was very touching.

  4. Congratulations.

    This is one of those under-rated honors available for even amateur astronomers.

    My father was one of the discoverers of #31113, while assisting with software to run Alfred University’s biggest scope. The decision to name it after the AU observatory’s founder (and primary telescope builder) Dr. John Stull was a signal of his efforts through the years for the promotion of astronomy – just as is your’s, Fraser.

  7. Do we get a special podcast now with you and Pamela telling us exactly how to find it with a 60mm Tasco refractor on a shaky Alt-Az mount – 1500X required, of course!!!! =-)

    Congrats!

  10. Congratulations! You are very deserving of this honor. I discovered your podcast Astronomy Cast first and that led me to this site. Your cheerful enthusiasm is contagious and I’ve shared your site with my kids – Universe Today has already helped out on a number of school science reports – thanks!

    Anyway, I think information on your new asteroid would make an interesting podcast episode!

  11. Yay! Sweet!

    But now you owe us, Fraser. You owe us a post telling us everything there is to know about Frasercain… 😉

  12. Well Done Fraser.

    Looking at the list I saw (26733) Nanavisitor; wonder is that the same person from Star trek DS9?

  15. *Envious Look*
    Wow!!! WOW!! ooooooh (even)!!!!!

    Time for a new license plate for your car! “IMASTROID”

    Now, how many people out there will look through the catalog and wonder if its a mis-spelling for a TV shrink?

  25. Fraser Congrats!!
    I am seriously jealous also.
    That small planetary body locater is really cool. Is there one for the entire Solar System??? Changing the length of time was really cool too.
    I took your asteroid location to the 21st of December, 2012 just to make sure your rock wasn’t in any precarious spot that it shouldn’t be.
    Are there programs that let you trace orbits back and forth in time?

  26. Congrats Fraser! That’s a very cool honor and you definitely deserve it for your service by keeping this blog going. Cheers. 😀

Comments are closed.