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.”
“Weird Al” Yankovic is famous for having his own asteroid obriting the sun between Mars and Jupiter. He also writes and performs parody songs and plays a mean accordion. He brings his show to the Tucson Arena Sunday night, Sept. 20.
Photo by Sam Jones
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.
Planetary scientist Allison McGraw, a University of Arizona grad, gives a presentation at the Division of Planetary Science Conference in Helsinki, Finland, in 2025.
Courtesy of Allison McGraw
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.