Asteroid (215016) Catherinegriffin = 2008 US3

[davegrennan]

I'm absolutely delighted to be able to announce that my first asteroid discovery has now been officially named and numbered. You may remember that I was lucky enough to have discovered this asteroid back in October 2008. Since then with the help of other Minor Planet Observers all around the world, its orbit was tied down well enough in May for the Minor Planet Centre to give it an official number.  This allowed me to submit a naming citation to the IAU. The 'Committee for Small Body Naming' were obviously in agreement and yesterday the citation was published as follows;

The following citation is from MPC 66729:

(215016) Catherinegriffin = 2008 US3
     Catherine Grennan (née Griffin, 1939-2004) was the mother of the
discoverer.  She encouraged his interest in amateur astronomy, and this led to
the discovery of this minor planet.

As mentioned in the citation, this asteroid is named in memory of my mum.  She passed away in 2004.  It was she who gave me my first pair of binoculars to study the night sky.  When I was a kid I'd be out back just looking up at the stars instead of complaining and making my come back inside, she would bring me a hat and coat and say 'Just 15 more minutes then come inside'.

[Paul]

Dave, congrtaulations, that's excellent news! The sadness being that your mother isn't here to see your search for asteroids come to fruition, but now she is immortalised in the sky!

Well done, and thanks for sharing this with us.

Paul.

[Roman White]

Congratulations Dave!  
You have made the best choice of the name!

[martinastro]

That is excellent news Dave!, congratulations on getting the asteroid named, it really is a fitting honor for your Mother and I bet she is smiling down on you now. Thank goodness she gave you the binos..look what that has started!!...and long may it continue. Thanks for keeping us informed and good luck with your future NEO hunting. Cheers. 

[rjgjr]

Congratulations Dave. I'm sure the stars are shining very brightly in your Mother's eyes and reflecting back into the Universe.

[brianb]

Congratulations, and what an honour for your mother - I'm sure she deserved it!

[Big Dipper]

Congratulations Dave - plus a very nice gesture in memory of your Dear, late Mother.

[davegrennan]

Thanks for all the kind words folks.  I was particularly pleased to receive a phone call of congrats from our own John McConnell.  It was a really nice gesture and much appreciated.

[davegrennan]

Hi All,

Just thought I'd post a link to a piece which appeared in this mornings Irish Times.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0817/1224252678741.html

[martinastro]

Excellent stuff Dave and thanks for the heads up on the link. Might just use this for my site for a news item. It's a great emotional story. Congrats again on your success 

[markt]

Many, many congratulations!