CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – James B. Kaler, professor emeritus of astronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, now has even more reason to be gazing at the night sky. He has had an asteroid named after him.
Asteroid 17851 Kaler was discovered on May 1, 1998, with the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking system in Haleakala, Hawaii. NEAT is an automatic 1-meter telescope, camera and computer system developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to search for near-Earth asteroids and comets.
Having a namesake in the sky is no small honor. Unlike the selling of star names over the Internet, the naming of asteroids is serious business, presided over by the International Astronomical Union, an organization of professional astronomers.
Upon its discovery, an asteroid is assigned a provisional designation by the Minor Planet Center of the IAU. When its orbit is precisely determined, the asteroid receives a permanent number and becomes eligible for naming. Proposed names must be approved by the IAU’s Committee on Small Body Nomenclature.
“I was very surprised and excited to have been honored in this way by the astronomical community,” Kaler said. “I am touched by the thoughtfulness of the individual who nominated me and by the research community who approved the nomination.”
As a professional astronomer, Kaler has studied stellar evolution, including planetary nebulae – the colorful remnants of dying stars. As a popularizer of astronomy, Kaler has written 10 books and numerous magazine articles. The nomination for naming asteroid 17851 cited Kaler for his spectroscopic research on planetary nebulae, his books, and his tireless efforts to educate teachers, students and amateur astronomers.
The asteroid is small, approximately 7 kilometers across, about the size of Champaign-Urbana. “Although it would be exciting to see newspaper headlines proclaim ‘Kaler Scares Astronomers’ or ‘Kaler to Devastate Earth,’ there is no danger this object will strike our planet,” Kaler said. “It’s a well-behaved asteroid that will come no closer than about 95 million miles, so we’re pretty safe.”
The asteroid is currently located in the constellation Taurus, but is too faint to be seen with the naked eye.
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