Kiss My Asteroid: new rock gods of the skeptic world

Listen up, asteroid hunters -

If you find a previously undetected chunk of rock out there in the heavens, and you’re at a loss as to what to call it, I’d like to humbly offer the use of my name.

Until the day I receive that honour, however, I will be content to bask in the glory of others. In particular, the respective glories of:

Phil Plait (165347 Philplait) – the Bad Astronomer, and like, omg, totally huggable
Rebecca Watson (153289 Rebeccawatson) – whom I’ve admired from afar for doing what I would have loved to do for women and skepticism
Michael Stackpole (165612 Stackpole) – I haven’t actually read any of his books…eep
PZ Myers (153298 Paulmyers) – keeper of the Pharyngula science blog, and the same who was expelled from the recent preview screening of the creationist flick that should be given the flick, Expelled (Hah! How’s that for a sentence!)

These asteroids were detected by Jeff Medkeff, and his own account of the naming can be found at his Blue Collar Scientist blog. Jeff has previously named asteroids after Skepticality podcast hosts Derek Colanduno (106545 Colanduno) and Robyn ‘Swoopy’ McCarthy (106537 McCarthy) . Obviously a man with great taste

To be floating about… up there (waves hand vaguely)… with these folks is now on my list of things to do before I turn whatever arbitrary age, which I’ll decide later, based on my progress towards this goal. I don’t believe in setting unrealistic targets for myself – it only leads to disappointment.

And thus, reinvigorated with purpose, firm in the belief that one day, ###### Sumenrai will be on the lips of astronomers the world over (now there’s an interesting image), I return to my…

work… compiling lists… ugh.

Damn. No one’s giving me an asteroid for this.

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• Jeff Medkeff, The Blue Collar Scientist, 1968 – 2008