Somewhere between Jupiter and Mars there is a piece of New Jersey.

Paterson's Panther Academy Planetarium manager and astronomer Gary Swangin now has an asteroid named after him. It's called 107396 Swangin.

Michael Schwartz, one of Swangin's former students, bought the asteroid to thank Swangin for sparking his love for the cosmos.

"I think it's made me feel very, very happy," Swangin says. "But in the sense, I'm very grateful for the fact that I could have an asteroid named after me by a student of mine. And I think that's a nice thing and a good feeling to know that after all these years you've made an impact on somebody's life."

Schwartz is now an astronomer at NASA.

The Panther Academy Planetarium is open to all and is free for members of the Paterson School District.