‘Weird’ science: U of A grad helped get asteroid named after Al Yankovic

“Weird Al” Yankovic now has an asteroid named after him, thanks to the efforts of a planetary scientist with deep connections to the University of Arizona.

Minor planet 14331 will henceforth be known as asteroid Alyankovic. The International Astronomical Union, official keepers of cosmic names, made it official on Sept. 7, when the new designation was published in the bulletin of its Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature, or IAU WGSBN for short(ish).

U of A alumna Allison McGraw said the mad genius behind the hit parodies “Eat It,” “Smells Like Nirvana” and “Amish Paradise” was the natural choice for such an honor because of his popularity among, well, nerds like her.

She teamed up with three other researchers to nominate “Weird Al” for astronomical immortality because of all the smiles he has brought to “the science community and the planetary science community in particular,” she said. “There's always a tone of humor with planetary scientists, so he strikes a chord.”

McGraw plans to meet Yankovic backstage before his show at the Tucson Arena Sunday night to present him with a plaque commemorating his own personal minor planet.

“I've been working on not being starstruck, the same way I am every time I meet astronauts,” she said. “I'm gonna do my best not to be starstruck, or I guess rock struck, but I have the feeling that he's going to be really cool.”

“Weird Al” is in the midst of a massive, 90-city extension of last year’s Bigger & Weirder Tour, which included 75 shows in 67 cities.

But that’s nothing compared to the rock tour that Alyankovic is currently on.

The roughly mile-wide asteroid is cruising along at about 42,000 mph on an orbit that takes it around the sun once every 3.8 years or so.

The stony remnant from the formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago is one of several million space rocks populating the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered in 1981 by American astronomer Schelte J. Bus at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.

McGraw said an asteroid can be named for any person, living or dead, who has “done something for either the science community or just the public in general.”

Yankovic fits the bill “because he's indirectly taught (people) about science through some of these fun parody songs he’s done,” she said. “And we can't forget about his fun science-themed videos that have come out on his YouTube channel throughout the years.”

A particular favorite among geoscientists like her is “Our Friend Dirt,” a silly, retro-newsreel documentary Yankovic made literally about the ground beneath our feet. And his song “White and Nerdy” really spoke to McGraw back when she was a “nerdy kid,” she said. “Nobody thought I was cool until my dad let me dye my hair red.”

Joining her in the naming campaign for Asteroid Alyankovic were several heavy hitters in the planetary science field: astrophysicist Steve Desch from the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU; Tim McCoy, one of the main curators of meteorites at the Smithsonian Institution; and U of A research scientist Melissa Brucker, leader of the Spacewatch program, which is credited with discovering more than 179,000 asteroids since 1980 using two telescopes on Kitt Peak.

McGraw said they started putting the nomination together in March or April, and she got the word to Yankovic through his manager about a month and a half ago.

The scientists also convinced the International Astronomical Union to name an asteroid after one of Yankovic’s major influences, famous musical humorist and political satirist Tom Lehrer, who died last year at age 97.

Lehrer’s work includes “The Elements,” a 1959 song in which he recites the entire periodic table to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Major-General's Song.”

“He was a mathematician and teacher and also wrote math- and science-themed songs,” McGraw said. “We felt that someone who had that kind of science enthusiasm really deserved to have their name up in the sky.”

Desch, McCoy and Brucker already have asteroids named after them, and now McGraw does, too.

On July 9, (20092) Allisonmcgraw was added to the IAU WGSBN’s official list of minor planets, as was (20088) Adambattle, named for Adam Battle, a planetary astronomer who studies near-Earth asteroids at the U of A’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

McGraw is hoping that naming space rocks after stars like Lehrer and “Weird Al” will cast some reflected light on two things she’s passionate about: asteroid research and science communication.

McGraw was born in Mesa and grew up in Texas. She returned to Arizona to study at the U of A, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in geoscience and a master’s and doctorate in planetary science. Along the way, she won a couple of NASA grants and awards, created digital models of Martian terrain and designed an educational program called “Mysterious Meteorites” for Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium.

She also put on educational presentations around Tucson, including something she called SMASHTROIDS! that involved making data-based 3D models of real asteroids out of clay and metal and then letting audience members help her destroy them. 

McGraw now lives in Houston, where she studies asteroids and meteorites as a post-doctoral researcher for the Lunar and Planetary Institute, though she returns to the Old Pueblo regularly to visit colleagues and friends and indulge in some mountain biking.

“I actually leave my bike in Tucson,” she said. “Remember Houston, no mountains.”

Now that she and “Weird Al” each have their own asteroids, McGraw hopes to secure some telescope time through Spacewatch and others so she can get a closer look at them.

“There is actually no follow-up characterization for Al's asteroid or (mine), but I hope that I can get some more detailed observations over the next year or so,” she said.

If she can collect enough data, her plan is to make 3D models of the two minor planets so everyone can easily see their shape and texture and how they move through space.

Then maybe we can finally find out with scientific certainty what makes Alyankovic weird.

“Oh, I love that,” McGraw said. “To be determined.”