Nov. 14, 1999

A Utah couple has been credited with a new astronomical discovery. It's not a real big deal-- only a modest-sized asteroid. But one of the discoverers is Utah's best-known stargazer, Patrick Wiggins of Hansen Planetarium, and he's in Seventh Heaven because it's the first find of his career. News Specialist John Hollenhorst reports.

They made the discovery in their Tooele home. They have a bedroom that's been converted into an office. But if you open the closet door you'll find it's actually an observatory. Patrick Wiggins is a man who just can't leave his work at the office.

Maybe you remember when Wiggins and Dr. Holly Phaneuf got married at Hansen Planetarium in 1997, with stars in their eyes, of course. Now they've spotted something in the sky to hang their hats on.

Patrick Wiggins/Hansen Planetarium: "An asteroid. Hah, hah. Really, by accident, too. It was one of those serendipitous things."

Wiggins remodeled his home observatory for his bride. The roof slides back, giving an unobstructed view of the sky. Wiggins believes it's the only observatory in Utah certified by the International Astronomical Union, which assigned the couple to keep track of a known asteroid.

They've been up late a lot of nights since then. A camera snaps images through the telescope and displays them on a computer. Two images taken 15 minutes apart are compared, blinking back and forth from one image to the other. If something moves against the starry background, it could be an asteroid.

Wiggins: "Here is the one we were assigned to watch. Down here is the second that we found, which turned out to be an already known asteroid. But up here is our little discovery."

Holly spotted it first.

Holly Phaneuf/Co-Discoverer: "It's not all fuzzy like a comet. And so, we knew that it was an asteroid. And it's pretty exciting."

An asteroid is a tiny planet flying through space. Thousands have already been found. By someone else.

Phaneuf: "I was afraid to get exciting about it because we'd been burned in the past."

But the finding was confirmed and certified as a new discovery. About the size of a small mountain, it orbits between Mars and Jupiter.

Wiggins: "It's really a hoot. You know, in the cosmic scheme of things, you know, one three kilometer sized asteroid, it's no big deal. But still, it's kind of fun."

If they get a chance, they'd like to name the asteroid after the family cat. Unfortunately, she's named Comet, which would be very confusing. So maybe they'll name it after their other cat-- Quark.