Asteroid is named after Mister Rogers

Mister Rogers now has an asteroid named in his honor.

“Misterrogers,” formerly known as No. 26858, honors Fred Rogers, creator and host of public television’s “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Rogers died Feb. 27 at age 74.

The announcement was made on behalf of the International Astronomical Union by John G. Radzilowicz, director of the Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium & Observatory at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. The science center worked with Family Communications Inc., the production company Rogers founded, to produce a planetarium show for preschoolers called “The Sky Above Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which plays at 15 planetariums across the country.

“Misterrogers” can be found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and is about 218 million miles from the sun. It was discovered in 1993 by E.F. Helin at the Palomar Observatory in California.