Christopher Aikman

Last updated
G Christopher L Aikman
Born (1943-11-11) November 11, 1943 (age 80)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Known forSecretary of Canadian Astronomical Society (1983-89)
SpouseHendrika Marshall Aikman
Awards Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Service Award (1983)
Scientific career
FieldsStellar compositions, asteroids & comets
Asteroids discovered: 4 [1]
7840 Hendrika October 5, 1994 [2] [3]
10870 Gwendolen September 25, 1996 [4] [5]
24899 Dominiona January 14, 1997 [6] [7]
246913 Slocum September 23, 1998 [8]

Christopher Aikman is a Canadian astrophysicist who spent most of his career (from 1968 to 2000) at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, National Research Council Canada in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada.

Contents

Early life and education

An early interest in astronomy led Aikman to join the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Quebec Centre in 1958, at the age of 15.

He received a B.Sc. from Bishop's University in 1965 and a M.Sc. from the University of Toronto in 1968. His thesis [9] was based on microwave surveys of selected emission nebulae in the northern Milky Way made with the 46-m radio telescope of the Algonquin Radio Observatory, including the emission nebula IC1795. [10] This revealed what is perhaps the youngest stellar object in the Galaxy, namely W3(OH), a cocoon star [11] invisible at optical wavelengths but surrounded by a rapidly expanding ultracompact HII region, all within a dense obscuring dust shell. W3(OH) had previously been located in 1966 as the source of the first radio-identified astrophysical maser.

Career

He began working for the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in 1968 as the Director's scientific assistant. [12] His initial research was on the spectroscopy of comets, and of chemically peculiar stars whose surface compositions differ markedly from that of the Sun, with the aim of understanding the origin of their anomalies. This led to the discovery of a chemically peculiar star, HR 7775, having extraordinary enhancements of the element gold in its atmosphere.

A twenty-year study of the B6III star 3 Vulpeculae by D. P. Hube and Aikman led to the early recognition of a group of hot, variable stars now known as slowly pulsating B-type stars (SPB stars).

From 1991, he conducted a program of tracking Earth approaching asteroids with the historic telescope built by John S. Plaskett, but the project was cancelled in 1997.

He was the Canadian representative on the Spaceguard Foundation, a group concerned with assessing the asteroid impact threat to Earth. An incidental product of this research was the discovery of five asteroids between 1994 and 1998 (as credited by the Minor Planet Center). [1] [13]

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1019 Strackea, provisional designation 1924 QN, is a stony Hungaria asteroid of the inner asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 3 March 1924, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. It is named for German astronomer Gustav Stracke.

1072 Malva, provisional designation 1926 TA, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 48 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 October 1926, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Germany. The asteroid was named after the flowering plant Malva (mallow).

1078 Mentha, provisional designation 1926 XB, is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 December 1926, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. Only in 1958, it was realized that this object was a rediscovery of an already numbered but lost asteroid.

1085 Amaryllis, provisional designation 1927 QH, is a background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 69 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 31 August 1927, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named after the flowering plant Amaryllis.

1227 Geranium, provisional designation 1931 TD, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 46 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 October 1931, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory. The asteroid was named for the flowering plant Geranium (cranesbills).

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1233 Kobresia, provisional designation 1931 TG2, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 33 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 October 1931, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named for the grass-like flowering plant Kobresia, a genus in the sedge family.

1939 Loretta, provisional designation 1974 UC, is a carbonaceous Themistian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 October 1974, by American astronomer Charles Kowal at Palomar Observatory in California, who named it after his daughter, Loretta Kowal. The discovery of the asteroid took place during Kowal's follow-up observations of Jupiter's moon Leda, which he had discovered one month prior.

1190 Pelagia, provisional designation 1930 SL, is a dark Nysian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 September 1930, by Soviet–Georgian astronomer Grigory Neujmin at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named after astronomer Pelageya Shajn.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(7840) Hendrika". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (7840) Hendrika. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 618. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_6700. ISBN   978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. ↑ "7840 Hendrika (1994 TL3)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(10870) Gwendolen". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (10870) Gwendolen. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 747. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_8151. ISBN   978-3-540-00238-3.
  5. ↑ "10870 Gwendolen (1996 SY4)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(24899) Dominiona". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (24899) Dominiona. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 875. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_9790. ISBN   978-3-540-00238-3.
  7. ↑ "24899 Dominiona (1997 AU17)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "246913 Slocum (1998 SU63)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "U of Toronto Astronomy Department Theses 1930–1996".
  10. ↑ "IC 1795".
  11. ↑ Davidson, Kris (1970). "Development of a Cocoon Star". Astrophysics and Space Science. 6 (3): 422–435. Bibcode:1970Ap&SS...6..422D. doi:10.1007/BF00653862. S2CID   124972346.
  12. ↑ "Christopher Aikman | RASC". www.rasc.ca. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  13. ↑ "Complete publication list". ORCHID. Retrieved 15 April 2022.

Selected publications

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