| Nine years after its discovery by Bill Dillon and Randy Pepper, founding members of the George Observatory's Asteroid Team (or A-Team, as it's more commonly known), Asteroid 35352 has officially been named "Texas."
Located in an asteroid belt approximately 120 million miles from Earth between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars, "Texas" was discovered in 1997.
"I had come across an asteroid named 'Massachusetts' and was surprised to learn that Texas was not represented in the heavens," said Dillon. "The cosmic balance has been restored."
The asteroid was discovered through the 18-inch telescope at the George Observatory at Brazos Bend State Park and measures about 1.5 miles in diameter.
Approval by the International Astronomical Union in Cambridge, Mass. designates "Texas" as the asteroid's official recognized title. Although star-naming companies often sell naming rights to individuals, explained George Observatory staff astronomer Barbara Wilson, those names are not recognized by the scientific community.
The approved citation for "Texas" reads: "Largest state in the continental U.S., Texas is well-known for its proud, independent people, the Alamo, oil wealth, cowboys and cattle, April wildflowers and NASA's Johnson Space Center."
Wilson said the process of naming an asteroid takes many years, as the location of its orbit must be determined and refined, and discoverers have exclusive rights to the naming of their asteroids.
The A-Team has been making discoveries for more than a decade, and has 10 names pending approval. Since its inception in 1997, the A-Team has discovered over 400 asteroids, 21 of which have been named. The organization is a recipient of the Lone Stargazer Award in honor of its contributions to the field of astronomy.
Dillon said having "Texas" listed officially was exciting.
"I'm a native Texan. I was born in Big Spring," he said. "It's a big thrill."
Pepper, who has moved to Norway since the discovery, said he, too, is honored to have been able to name an asteroid after the Lone Star State.
"I was surprised there wasn't a 'Texas' asteroid already," he said. "Texas definitely deserves it."
The George Observatory is a facility of the Houston Museum of Natural Science and is home to the Challenger Learning Center, which takes participants on simulated space missions. It also houses an exhibit with fragments of several famous meteorites.
The largest of its three domed telescopes is the 36-inch Gueymard Research Telescope, one of the largest in the nation open to the public on a regular basis.
The observatory is open for public viewing on Saturday evenings.
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