Exo-planet named for Brendan
Exoplanet KOI-94b has been named “Brendan Kutler” in the Keck Exoplanet Registry.
The planet is estimated to be 70% larger than Earth and orbits a F-type main sequence star 600 light years in the constellation Cygnus.
Asteroid named in Brendan’s honor
Friends and colleagues from the Summer Science program have made certain that Brendan’s name will live on—in space. In September 2010, the asteroid formerly known as “2004TO367” was officially renamed “223877 Kutler.”
The Summer Science Program is held on the campus of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, N.M., and at Westmont College in Santa Barbara.
Donald Davis, Academic Director of SSP-Socorro, decided renaming an asteroid in Brendan’s honor would be a fitting memorial. Davis contacted a colleague who had discovered an asteroid and asked if the object could be renamed.
Brendan’s SSP classmates contributed to the process by completing the formal paperwork and providing information about Brendan to the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature, the organization responsible for naming planets and other astronomical objects.