The Beatles' Four Asteroids
On April 12, 1990, the Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (located at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts) announced that it would be naming Asteroids 4147, 4148, 4149, and 4150 to Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr respectively. All four of them are between 5 and 10 diameters, and were discovered in 1983 and 1984 by Brian A. Skiff and Dr. Edward L.G. Bowell. Both worked in the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona at the time. Credit: Apple Corps Ltd. "My colleague and I have been fans of the Beatles for 25 years or so, ever since their early days. We thought this would be an unusual distinction for them." Bowell says. He then goes on to add, "It is customary to name asteroids after distinguished scientists or Greek and Roman goddesses, but times are changing, and we think it is a fun thing to honor some other people we like and who we think have done nice things in the world." The two astronomers had discovered a...