Catalina Discovered Asteroid Inspires Patient Recovery

July 29, 2026 - Last week, Mary B., a former patient at a local Tucson inpatient rehabilitation hospital was presented with a certificate of an asteroid she named. The main belt asteroid now designated (482101)  ‘ArizonaCu’ was initially discovered in 2010 by the University of Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey (CSS); and CSS observer Greg Leonard helped to facilitate the naming of the asteroid through the International Astronomical Union’s ‘Working Group of Small Bodies Nomenclature’.

In late 2025, when Leonard’s wife Barbara, who works as a speech-language pathologist at the rehabilitation hospital mentioned her organization’s ‘Reach for the Stars’ themed celebration for recovering patients, he proposed that CSS could offer up an asteroid that patients would name to inspire their recovery. Additionally, he wanted to offer an opportunity to people outside of the planetary sciences community who are typically not involved in naming celestial bodies. Barbara thought that this would provide a unique focused activity for patients to work on brain recovery by requiring them to catalyze ideas, organize their thoughts, read directions and write descriptively. The winning entry from Mary B. was then randomly drawn from several entries. Mary was absolutely thrilled when she learned of her winning entry. She recollected that her brain and body “were not working well” just after her stroke and that the hospital therapists, nurses, doctors, and staff were all essential to her successful rehabilitation through the exceptional therapy, kindness, care, and encouragement they provided, and the hard work they supervised throughout her recovery. 

Today, Mary is back to playing her piano, attending church services, and leading a crochet group where she teaches the craft to people in her community.  The shawls and hats they make are donated to patients undergoing cancer treatments.  When asked about the reason behind the name ‘ArizonaCu’ (short for Arizona copper), Mary noted that she was inspired by her recollection of family and friends associated with Arizona’s rich legacy of copper mining. The Leonards recently visited Mary and friends to present a certificate of her winning asteroid name; and Greg also provided a presentation about near-Earth asteroids and CSS’s long-standing discovery and tracking  project. To see the orbital whereabouts of Mary's asteroid, click on this link: ArizonaCu and then the ‘Orbit Viewer’ tab.

(L to R) Greg and Barbara Leonard present a CSS certificate for the newly named asteroid ‘ArizonaCu’ to Mary B.