Dan Scheeres’ name will live on in space for the next million years or so.

The associate professor in the aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics department recently had an asteroid named after him.

“It was really neat to have an asteroid named after me,” he said. “This thing will be there millions of years from now, long after I’m gone.”

Scheeres said Asteroid (8887) Scheeres orbits around the sun between Mars and Jupiter.

Astronomer E.F. Helin discovered the asteroid in 1991. One of Scheeres’ co-workers suggested that she name it after Scheeres.

Scheeres said he found out about his namesake asteroid about a month ago at a meeting in Wisconsin.

Before coming to ISU in August of 1997, Scheeres worked at the Jet Proplusion Lab in California.

He said he became interested in asteroids there while working on the technical staff in navigation and flight mechanics section.

Scheeres has researched the evolution and stability around small, irregularly shaped asteroids. His work attempts to help better understand the processes that formed the solar system.

Tom Rudolphi, chairman of the aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics department, said the department is pleased with Scheeres’ accomplishment.

“It’s nice to know that people in our department are doing the kind of research that leads to this kind of accomplishment,” he said.

Rudolphi said Scheeres deserves the honor.

“It is indicative of his work,” he said.

Scheeres said the asteroid is not always visible.

“You may be able to see it at the end of November in 1999,” he said.

Scheeres said he is excited about having his own asteroid.

“It’s the immortality of your name,” he said. “It will last as long as our civilization.”