Asteroid named after Weird Al Yankovic
The gist
The International Astronomical Union approved naming an asteroid 'Alyankovic' after 'Weird Al' Yankovic.
The 1981-discovered main-belt rock now carries the parody singer's name.
How it unfolded
- 1981A mile-wide space rock, previously identified as 14331, was discovered in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
- Sep 19, 2026Tucson.com reports a U of A grad helped get an asteroid named after Al Yankovic.
- Sep 23, 2026Space.com and a Space Gets Weird Facebook post report astronomers named an asteroid after 'Weird Al' Yankovic.