A minor planet, discovered by the NASA–funded Catalina Sky Survey, was officially named for Carleton’s fourth president, the late Laurence “Larry” McKinley Gould. The asteroid, initially referred to as 1999 XR110, is now designated (22022) Gould.
Greg Leonard, senior survey operations specialist for the Catalina Sky Survey, was instrumental in assuring that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved the appellation in June. Leonard says he got to know Gould while studying as an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, where the famed geologist and explorer taught after retiring from Carleton (and where the survey is based).
“I’m sure Larry would really delight in having his own minor planet,” Leonard says. “And I’m sure he would be quite eager to map out his new cosmic landscape.”
The asteroid announcement appeared in the IAU’s Working Group on Small Bodies Nomenclature Bulletin, volume two, number seven. The Catalina Sky Survey also produced an in-house certificate to celebrate the occasion.
Visit the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Small-Body Database online to view the full citation and more information on Gould’s namesake, including a moving map of (22022) Gould within the solar system. To search the database, type in “Gould,” the minor planet number “22022” or the preliminary designation “1999 XR110.”