An asteroid hurtling through outer space between Mars and Jupiter has been discovered by a University of North Texas student.

David McNeil, a 25-year-old Denton resident, discovered the oblong, potato-shaped object, according to a UNT news release. McNeil made his find through the International Asteroid Search Campaign for high schools and university students.

Photos of the asteroid were taken by Bob Holmes at Astronomical Research Institute in Charleston, Ill., in April. McNeil said he then analyzed the images and realized what he had found.

The first person to report the asteroid gets credit. In this case, McNeil and Holmes beat out another team by a few hours, according to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.

But Harvard-Smithsonian senior astronomer Brian Marsden said the discovery isn't a big deal.

The asteroid discovery is one of tens of thousands every year, Dr. Marsden said. As of early May, 17,000 such discoveries had been made this year. About 72,000 finds were made last year.

Dr. Marsden said that without additional information about the asteroid's orbit, the discovery is "entirely inconsequential."

The distance between the earth and the asteroid could be anywhere from 130 million to 200 million miles away and is probably a few miles long in size, Dr. Marsden said.

The asteroid has been labeled 2007 KH-16K.

Some asteroids with better-documented histories are given names. In all, about 13,000 asteroids have names that range from gods (Zeus and Eros) and authors (Emily Bronte and Emile Zola) to pop singers (each member of the Beatles) and leaders (Vladimir Lenin).

But there is some etiquette when it comes to naming asteroids. Names with political connections are now discouraged.

"We don't want a Hitler or Stalin just yet," said Dr. Marsden, who is also secretary of the Committee on Small Body Nomenclature, a group that votes on names and is part of the International Astronomical Union.

And yes, Dr. Marsden has an asteroid named after him. Naming an asteroid after yourself is discouraged, but having a colleague honor you is acceptable, he said.

McNeil said that when his discovery qualifies to be named, he may name it Eagle, after his university's mascot.

And if the asteroid came crashing down to Earth? He said he might name it after an ex-girlfriend. (Astronomy humor.)

McNeil, a physics graduate student specializing in optics, understands the impact of his discovery.

"It's not the biggest discovery," he said. "It was fun to do. And I am still going to do more. Maybe I'll find something bigger."