A newly named asteroid is carrying a bit of UC Riverside into deep space.

The International Astronomical Union, which is responsible for naming celestial objects, has honored UCR professor of planetary astrophysics Stephen Kane by naming asteroid (711599) “Kane” after him. 

Kane’s research explores planets in our solar system, especially Venus, as well as worlds orbiting distant stars. The asteroid that bears his name is a tribute to his many contributions to planetary science. 

Kane says the tribute has left him feeling “both humbled and ecstatic!”

In simple terms, an asteroid is a small, rocky object that orbits the sun. They are too small for gravity to pull them into a round shape like planets. Most are leftovers from the early solar system, formed more than four billion years ago.

The Kane asteroid is estimated to be few miles across, which is tiny by planetary standards but typical for asteroids orbiting the same part of the solar system. To put it in context, if Earth were the size of a basketball, asteroid Kane would be about the size of a grain of sand, but that grain would still be big enough to flatten a continent if it ever hit Earth. 

“Remember, the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs and forever changed the face of life on Earth was only between 6 and 9 miles in diameter,” Kane said.

Asteroid Kane belongs to the main asteroid belt, a vast region between Mars and Jupiter where millions of asteroids reside. It completes one trip around the sun every four years. It isn’t a near-Earth object, it doesn’t have a comet’s tail, and it poses no danger — it’s a steady, well-behaved member of the solar system.

In other words, compared with the dramatic space rocks that make headlines, Kane’s celestial counterpart is refreshingly calm. Its significance lies not in spectacle, but in permanence: the name will continue orbiting the sun long into the future.

Members of the campus and broader Riverside community will soon have a chance to meet the scientist behind the asteroid, no telescope required.

On Jan. 26, Kane will be the featured speaker at the first event in a new public series, Sip with a Scientist, held at Bar Ni Modo on University Avenue. Happy hour at the bar is from 3 to 5 p.m., and the event runs from 5 to 6 p.m. It is free to attend and includes free appetizers. 

Kane will talk about planets, planetary systems, and the kinds of discoveries that can lead — sometimes unexpectedly — to having a piece of the solar system named in your honor.

Though the asteroid is highly unlikely to ever crash into Earth, Kane joked that the IAU’s designation means, “there’s at least a small chance in the future someone will say, ‘Kane will kill us all!’”