Nalin Samarasinha | |
---|---|
Born | 1958 |
Nationality | American |
Education | Hena Vidyalaya, Mt. Lavinia Nalanda College, Colombo University of Colombo University of Maryland, College Park USA |
Occupation | Astronomer |
Employer | Planetary Science Institute USA |
Known for | first native born citizen of Sri Lanka to gain the distinction of having an Asteroid named after him |
Title | Senior Scientist |
Nalin H. Samarasinha (born 1958) is a Sri Lankan born planetary scientist and a discoverer of minor planets, who studies the dynamical evolution and processes of cometary nuclei and comae. [1] Currently, he works as a senior scientist for the Planetary Science Institute in the United States. [2] [3]
Samarasinha earned a BSc first class honours in Physics from University of Colombo after schooling at Hena Vidyalaya, Mt. Lavinia and Nalanda College Colombo. [4] Later he gained a MSc in astronomy from University of Maryland, College Park USA and followed it up furthering studies graduating with a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Maryland. [5]
Florian asteroid 12871 Samarasinha (1998 ML37), discovered by astronomers with the LONEOS survey in 1998, was named in his honor. The official naming citation was published by IAU's Minor Planet Center on 24 July 2002 ( M.P.C. 46109). [1] [6] He is the first native born citizen of Sri Lanka to gain the distinction of having an asteroid named after him. [7] Together with astronomer Tod R. Lauer, he is credited with the discovery of asteroid 607372 Colombounilanka. [8]
In ancient times, only the Sun and Moon, a few stars, and the most easily visible planets had names. Over the last few hundred years, the number of identified astronomical objects has risen from hundreds to over a billion, and more are discovered every year. Astronomers need to be able to assign systematic designations to unambiguously identify all of these objects, and at the same time give names to the most interesting objects, and where relevant, features of those objects.
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.
Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Luboš Kohoutek is a Czech astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and comets, including Comet Kohoutek which was visible to the naked eye in 1973. He also discovered a large number of planetary nebulae.
Liisi Oterma was a Finnish astronomer, the first woman to get a Ph.D. degree in astronomy in Finland.
The Purple Mountain Observatory, also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on the Purple Mountain in the east of Nanjing.
David Clifford Jewitt is a British-American astronomer who studies the Solar System, especially its minor bodies. He is based at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he is a Member of the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, the Director of the Institute for Planets and Exoplanets, Professor of Astronomy in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Professor of Astronomy in the Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. He is best known for being the first person to discover a body beyond Pluto and Charon in the Kuiper belt.
James Vernon Scotti is an American astronomer. He was born in Bandon, Oregon and graduated from Edmonds Woodway High School in Edmonds, Washington in 1978. He received his B.Sc. in Astronomy from the University of Arizona in Tucson in 1983. Ever since that time, he has worked on the Spacewatch project, which is one of a number of projects that look for near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). He wrote the first automatic asteroid detection software for the project in 1984.
Paulo Renato Centeno Holvorcem is a Brazilian amateur astronomer and mathematician who lives in Brasilia, Brazil.
Henry E. Holt was an American astronomer and prolific discoverer of minor planets and comets, who has worked as a planetary geologist at the United States Geological Survey and Northern Arizona University.
C. Michelle Olmstead is an American astronomer, asteroid discoverer and computer scientist.
1971 Hagihara, provisional designation 1955 RD1, is an Eoan asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers in diameter.
3255 Tholen, provisional designation 1980 RA, is a stony asteroid, Mars-crosser and relatively fast rotator, that measures approximately 5.1 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 2 September 1980, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 2.95 hours. It was later named after American astronomer David Tholen.
David D. Balam is a Canadian astronomer and a research associate with University of Victoria's Department of Physics and Astronomy, in Victoria, British Columbia. Specializing in the search for Near-Earth objects, Balam is one of the world's most prolific contributors to this research; only two astronomers have made more such discoveries than Balam. He is credited with the discovery or co-discovery of more than 600 asteroids, over a thousand extra-galactic supernovae, and novae in the galaxy M31. Balam is also co-credited for the 1997 discovery of Comet Zhu-Balam.
Clifford J. Cunningham is a Canadian-Scottish professional astronomer and author of numerous books on asteroids.
Hiroki Kosai is a Japanese astronomer with the Kiso Observatory. He is best known for helping to popularize astronomy in Japan and for his observations of comets and asteroids, most notably with his co-discovery the comet 1976 XVI. He is credited by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) with the discovery of nearly 100 asteroids.
Erwin Obermair was an Electrician, Austrian amateur astronomer and co-discoverer of asteroids.
(457175) 2008 GO98, provisional designation 2008 GO98 with cometary number 362P, is a Jupiter family comet in a quasi-Hilda orbit within the outermost regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 8 April 2008, by astronomers of the Spacewatch program at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. This presumably carbonaceous body has a diameter of approximately 15 kilometers (9 miles) and rotation period of 10.7 hours.