Discussion
Two asteroids newly named after well-known personalities -
14330 Tomlehrer
14331 Alyankovic
🥳
These asteroids reside in the main Asteroid Belt between Jupiter and Mars.
Many more names in this bulletin from the IAU dated 7 September 2026.
https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/files/Bulletins/latest.pdf
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/(14330)_Tomlehrer
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/(14331)_Alyankovic
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The story behind how “Weird Al” Yankovic got an asteroid named after him.
"Planetary scientist Allison McGraw teamed up with three other researchers to nominate “Weird Al” for astronomical immortality because of all the smiles he has brought to “the science community and the planetary science community in particular,” she said. “There's always a tone of humor with planetary scientists, so he strikes a chord.”
"
https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_1220f6e6-29cd-46a7-9046-81b259a61023.html
4/n
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More detailed coverage and background info on 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Tom Lehrer and the asteroids named after them at
https://www.space.com/astronomy/asteroids/astronomers-just-named-an-asteroid-after-weird-al-yankovic
and
https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_1220f6e6-29cd-46a7-9046-81b259a61023.html
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