An asteroid between Mars and Jupiter has been named after a groundbreaking US gay rights activist.

Frank Kameny, who died last October, was fired from his position as an astronomer for the US Army in 1957 because he was gay.

However, he challenged his dismissal in the Supreme Court and spearheaded the first LGBT rights protests outside the White House, the Pentagon and in Philadelphia in the 1960s.

Now the astronomy world has honored the pioneering activist by re-naming Minor Planet 40463 after him.