see § List of discovered minor planets |
Andrea Boattini (born 16 September 1969) is an Italian astronomer and a prolific discoverer of minor planets and comets. [2]
After developing a growing interest in minor planets, he graduated in 1996 from the University of Bologna with a thesis on near-Earth objects (NEOs). He is involved in various projects related to NEO follow-up and search programs, with special interest in the NEO class known as Atens. [2]
He currently works at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona after many years spent at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR, National Research Council) and the Astronomical Observatory in Rome. He worked for the Catalina Sky Survey project from 2007 to 2014, in Tucson, Arizona (USA). Meanwhile, he discovered the active comets C/2007 W1 (Boattini), C/2008 J1 (Boattini), C/2008 S3 (Boattini), C/2009 P2 (Boattini), C/2009 W2 (Boattini), C/2010 F1 (Boattini), C/2010 G1 (Boattini) as well as the most distant discovery of an inbound active comet, C/2010 U3 (Boattini). [3] He also accidentally recovered 206P/Barnard-Boattini from the Mount Lemmon Survey (also see lost comet).
Asteroid 8925 Boattini is named in his honour. [2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) on 2 February 1999 ( M.P.C. 33793). [4]
Andrea Boattini is credited by the MPC with the discovery of hundreds of minor planets made between 1977 (see following comment) and 2006. [1]
The minor planet (48381) 1977 SU3, discovered at the Siding Spring Observatory on 17 September 1977, is credited by the MPC to Andrea Boattini and his older co-discoverer Giuseppe Forti (born 1939). [5] However Boattini did not co-discover this asteroid on the day after his 8th birthday in 1977, but rather recovered the body from the original observations, referenced as MPS 18832, [5] which were published by the MPC on 13 October 2000. [4] He named the asteroids 12848 Agostino and 14973 Rossirosina, in honor of his father Agostino (born 1932) and his mother, Rosina Rossi Boattini (born 1934). [6] [7]
In addition to the officially discovered (i.e. numbered) minor planets, near-Earth asteroids 2007 WD5 and 2012 FC71 , first observed by Boattini in 2007 and 2012, respectively. His co-discoverers are: A M. Tombelli, B V. Goretti, C A. Di Paola, D L. Tesi, E G. Forti, F G. D'Abramo, G F. Pedichini, H A. Caronia, J A. Di Clemente, K F. Bernardi, L V. Cecchini, M H. Scholl, N M. Mazzucato. [1]
List of minor planets discovered by Andrea Boattini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Andrea Boattini has also discovered or re-discovered 25 comets (see table).
List of comets discovered by Andrea Boattini | |||
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Designation | Discovery date | Source | Note |
C/2007 W1 Boattini | 20 November 2007 | MPEC 2007-W63 [8] | |
C/2008 J1 Boattini | 2 May 2008 | MPEC 2008-J17 [9] | |
P/2008 O3 Boattini | 29 July 2008 | MPEC 2008-P05 [10] | Boattini 1 |
C/2008 S3 Boattini | 29 September 2008 | MPEC 2008-S96 [11] | |
P/2008 T1 Boattini | 1 October 2008 | MPEC 2008-T30 [12] | Boattini 2 |
206P/Barnard–Boattini | 7 October 2008 | MPEC 2008-T89 [13] | originally discovered by Edward Barnard in 1892 |
P/2008 Y1 Boattini | 22 December 2008 | MPEC 2008-Y53 [14] | Boattini 3 |
P/2009 B1 Boattini | 21 January 2009 | MPEC 2009-B46 [15] [16] | Boattini 4 |
C/2009 P2 Boattini | 15 August 2009 | MPEC 2009-Q14 [17] | |
P/2009 Q4 Boattini | 26 August 2009 | MPEC 2009-Q84 [18] | Boattini 5 |
C/2009 W2 Boattini | 21 November 2009 | MPEC 2009-W103 [19] | |
C/2010 F1 Boattini | 17 March 2010 | MPEC 2010-F32 [20] | |
C/2010 G1 Boattini | 5 April 2010 | MPEC 2010-G27 [21] | |
C/2010 J1 Boattini | 6 May 2010 | MPEC 2010-J32 [22] | |
P/2010 U1 Boattini | 17 October 2010 | MPEC 2010-U18 [23] | Boattini 6 |
C/2010 U3 Boattini | 31 October 2010 | MPEC 2010-V55 [24] | |
P/2011 JB 15 Spacewatch-Boattini | 28 May 2011 | MPEC 2011-K56 [25] | |
C/2011 L6 Boattini | 28 May 2011 | MPEC 2011-K56 [26] | |
P/2011 V1 Boattini | 22 October 2011 | MPEC 2011-V13 [27] | Boattini 7 |
P/2011 Y2 Boattini | 24 December 2011 | MPEC 2011-Y49 [28] | Boattini 8 |
C/2011 Y3 Boattini | 25 December 2011 | MPEC 2011-Y50 [29] | Boattini 9 |
C/2013 F1 Boattini | 23 March 2013 | MPEC 2013-F46 [30] | |
C/2013 H2 Boattini | 22 April 2013 | MPEC 2013-H45 [31] | |
C/2013 J5 Boattini | 13 May 2013 | MPEC 2013-K25 [32] | |
C/2013 V1 Boattini | 4 November 2013 | MPEC 2013-V32 [33] |
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Johann Palisa was an Austrian astronomer, born in Troppau, Austrian Silesia, now Czech Republic. He was a prolific discoverer of asteroids, discovering 122 in all, from 136 Austria in 1874 to 1073 Gellivara in 1923. Some of his notable discoveries include 153 Hilda, 216 Kleopatra, 243 Ida, 253 Mathilde, 324 Bamberga, and the near-Earth asteroid 719 Albert. Palisa made his discoveries without the aid of photography, and he remains the most successful visual (non-photographic) asteroid discoverer of all time. He was awarded the Valz Prize from the French Academy of Sciences in 1906. The asteroid 914 Palisana, discovered by Max Wolf in 1919, and the lunar crater Palisa were named in his honour.
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