Originally Posted by ballaratdragons
So why isn't it called Asteroid McNaught?
Seems a bit sucky that you discover an Asteroid and they wack someone else's name on it
I believe Rob may currently hold the record for the most number of
comets discovered by any individual in all of history.
It wouldn't surprise me if he held a similar record for asteroid discoveries.
He certainly would be up there.
So Rob would undoubtely have been the one to recommend the name
to the IAU.
I mentioned to Fred Watson at dinner over Easter that it wouldn't
surprise me if the average BBC or Discovery Channel documentary on
the risk of near earth object impacts probably costs more to make
than the entire budget that Rob and Gordon operate on every year
actually looking for them. They work on a shoestring budget and funding
every year is a constant struggle.