Gareth V. Williams

Last updated

Gareth Vaughan Williams (born 1965, [1] in Windlesham, [2] England) is an English-American astronomer, who served as the associate director of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC) until his retirement in February 2020. [3]

Contents

Career

From January 1990 to February 2020, Williams has been one of the longest-serving staff members of the Minor Planet Center. He is an IAU member and was the MPC representative on various IAU committees and working groups, including the Working Group on Planetary System Nomenclature and is secretary of the Working Group on Small Body Nomenclature. Gareth got his undergraduate degree in astronomy at University College London, and his PhD in 2013 from the Open University. He is known for recovering the lost asteroids 878 Mildred in 1991 and 719 Albert in 2000. [4]

He also identified the earliest known observation of a Jupiter trojan, when he linked A904 RD, an object seen on a single night in 1904 by E. E. Barnard, with (12126) 1999 RM11. [5] Barnard's observations, which he initially believed belonged to Saturn IX (Phoebe), were sufficient to show that the object was distant, but he did not follow it up. The first Jupiter trojan to be recognized as such, 588 Achilles, was discovered in 1906. [6] [ failed verification ]

On 11 February 2020, the Minor Planet Center announced that Gareth Williams is retiring as its associate director. [3]

Awards and honors

Minor planet 3202 Graff, a Hilda asteroid discovered by Max Wolf at Heidelberg in 1908, was named in his honor on 10 April 1990 ( M.P.C. 16245). [1] [7] The outer main belt asteroid 10257 Garecynthia was also named in honor of his marriage with Cynthia Marsden, daughter of former MPC director Brian G. Marsden. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

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.

Brian Geoffrey Marsden was a British astronomer and the longtime director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iocaste (moon)</span> Retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter

Iocaste, also known as Jupiter XXIV, is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii including: David C. Jewitt, Yanga R. Fernandez, and Eugene Magnier led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2000, and given the temporary designation S/2000 J 3.

Warren B. Offutt was an American amateur astronomer and amateur radio operator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Lucia Stroncone Astronomical Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory in Umbria, north central Italy

The Santa Lucia Stroncone Astronomical Observatory is an astronomical observatory located at 350 metres (1,150 ft) altitude in Stroncone, near the city of Terni, in Umbria, north central Italy.

1647 Menelaus is a mid-sized Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 42 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 23 June 1957 by American astronomer Seth Nicholson at the Palomar Observatory in California, and later named after the Spartan King Menelaus from Greek mythology. The dark asteroid has a rotation period of 17.7 hours. It is the principal body of the proposed Menelaus cluster, which encompasses several, mostly tentative Jovian asteroid families.

1749 Telamon is a dark Jupiter Trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 70 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory on 23 September 1949, and named after Telamon from Greek mythology. The D-type asteroid is the principal body of the proposed Telamon family and belongs to the 60 largest Jupiter trojans. It has a rotation period of 17.0 hours and possibly a spherical shape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1873 Agenor</span> Jupiter trojan asteroid

1873 Agenor is a dark Jupiter trojan from the Trojan camp, approximately 53 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey in 1971, and later named after Agenor from Greek mythology. The dark Jovian asteroid belongs to the 100 largest Jupiter trojans and has a rotation period of 20.60 hours.

3202 Graff, provisional designation A908 AA, is a carbonaceous Hilda asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately 36 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 3 January 1908, by German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. The asteroid was named after astronomer Gareth V. Williams.

5028 Halaesus is a Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 51 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 23 January 1988 by American astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. The dark D-type asteroid has a rotation period of 24.9 hours and belongs to the 100 largest Jupiter trojans. It was named after Halaesus from Greek mythology.

1877 Marsden, provisional designation 1971 FC, is a carbonaceous Hildian asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately 35 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey in 1971, and named after British astronomer Brian Marsden.

Philip D. Nicholson is an Australian-born professor of astronomy at Cornell University in the Astronomy department specialising in Planetary Sciences. He was editor-in-chief of the journal Icarus between 1998 and 2018.

6545 Leitus, provisional designation:1986 TR6, is a Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 53 kilometers (33 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 5 October 1986, by Slovak astronomer Milan Antal at the Piwnice Astronomical Observatory in Poland. The dark D-type asteroid has a rotation period of 16.3 hours and belongs to the 90 largest Jupiter trojans. Numbered in 1995, it was named in 2021, after the Argonaut Leitus from Greek mythology, who fought in the Trojan War.

Herbert Raab is an Austrian software engineer, amateur astronomer and discoverer of astronomical objects.

Robert D. Stephens is an American amateur astronomer and a prolific photometrist of minor planets at the Center for Solar System Studies, Rancho Cucamonga in California, United States.

References

  1. 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(3202) Graff". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (3202) Graff. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 266. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_3203. ISBN   978-3-540-00238-3.
  2. ↑ "Gareth Williams' Personal Web Pages". Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Archived from the original on 16 January 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  3. 1 2 "MPEC 2020-C130 : GARETH WILLIAMS". Minor Planet Center. 11 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "IAU Minor Planet Center – Staff". Minor Planet Center. IAU. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Brian G. Marsden (1 October 1999). "The Earliest Observation of a Trojan – Press Information Sheet" . Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "The best off – Gareth Williams". astro.hr. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  8. ↑ "(10257) Garecynthia = 1996 TO62 = 1997 WP53 = 4333 T-3 = T/4333 T-3". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.