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Asteroid Named for Adams

Douglas Adams, the late author of the classic SF Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy BBC series and subsequent novels, was honored by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center with an asteroid bearing his name, MSNBC.com reported. Asteroid Douglasadams was among the 71 newly named celestial objects announced on Jan. 25 in Cambridge, Mass., the Web site reported.

The asteroid in question was chosen because of its original name, 2001 DA42, which references the year Adams passed away, his initials and the number 42, which, as fans of the author know, is the answer to "life, the universe and everything" according to the Hitchhiker stories.

The asteroid is not the first to have a connection to Adams. In 2001, just days after the author passed away, the organization named an asteroid after Arthur Dent, the earthling protagonist of the Hitchhiker series.

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