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The Aten asteroids are a dynamical group of asteroids whose orbits bring them into proximity with Earth. By definition, Atens are Earth-crossing asteroids (a < 1.0 AU and Q > 0.983 AU). The group is named after 2062 Aten, the first of its kind, discovered on 7 January 1976 by American astronomer Eleanor Helin at Palomar Observatory. As of 2023, 2,445 Atens have been discovered, of which 256 are numbered, 13 are named, and 101 are classified as potentially hazardous asteroids.
Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) was a program run by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, surveying the sky for near-Earth objects. NEAT was conducted from December 1995 until April 2007, at GEODSS on Hawaii, as well as at Palomar Observatory in California. With the discovery of more than 40 thousand minor planets, NEAT has been one of the most successful programs in this field, comparable to the Catalina Sky Survey, LONEOS and Mount Lemmon Survey.
Charles Thomas Kowal was an American astronomer known for his observations and discoveries in the Solar System. As a staff astronomer at Caltech's Mount Wilson and Palomar Mountain observatories between 1961 and 1984, he found the first of a new class of Solar System objects, the centaurs, discovered two moons of the planet Jupiter, and discovered or co-discovered a number of asteroids, comets and supernovae. He was awarded the James Craig Watson Medal for his contributions to astronomy in 1979.
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.
Petr Pravec is a Czech astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets, born in Třinec, Czech Republic.
Timothy Bruce Spahr is an American astronomer and prolific discoverer of minor planets.
Kenneth J. Lawrence is an American astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets.
Stephen C. Singer-Brewster (b. 1945) also known as Stephen C. Brewster is an American astronomer.
Brian P. Roman is an American astronomer.
Jeffrey (Jeff) Thomas Alu is an American musician, photographer, graphic artist, and amateur astronomer who has participated in the Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey. The asteroid 4104 Alu was named in his honor.
David James Tholen is an American astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii. He holds a 1984 PhD from the University of Arizona, and specializes in planetary and Solar System astronomy. He is a discoverer of minor planets and known for the Tholen spectral classification scheme used on asteroids.
Hans Scholl is a German astronomer, who worked at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut in Heidelberg, Germany, and at the Côte d'Azur Observatory in Nice, France. In 1999, he was part of a team that discovered three moons of Uranus: Prospero, Setebos and Stephano. He has also co-discovered 55 minor planets together with Italian astronomer Andrea Boattini at ESO's La Silla Observatory site in northern Chile during 2003–2005.
2062 Aten, provisional designation 1976 AA, is a stony sub-kilometer asteroid and namesake of the Aten asteroids, a subgroup of near-Earth objects. The asteroid was named after Aten from Egyptian mythology.
The Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey (PCAS) was an astronomical survey, initiated by American astronomers Eleanor Helin and Eugene Shoemaker at the U.S Palomar Observatory, California, in 1973. The program is responsible for the discovery of 95 near-Earth Objects including 17 comets, while the Minor Planet Center directly credits PCAS with the discovery of 20 numbered minor planets during 1993–1994. PCAS ran for nearly 25 years until June 1995. It had an international extension, INAS, and was the immediate predecessor of the outstandingly successful NEAT program.
2340 Hathor, provisional designation 1976 UA, is an eccentric stony asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid. It belongs to the Aten group of asteroids and measures approximately 210 meters in diameter. Discovered by Charles Kowal in 1976, it was later named after the ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor.
2430 Bruce Helin is a stony Phocaea asteroid and slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by American astronomers Eleanor Helin and Eugene Shoemaker at the U.S. Palomar Observatory in California, on 8 November 1977. It was later named after Bruce Helin, son of the first discoverer. The S-type asteroid (Sl) has an exceptionally long rotation period of 128 hours and measures approximately 12 kilometers in diameter.
8013 Gordonmoore, provisional designation 1990 KA, is an eccentric, stony asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 1–2 kilometers in diameter.
2285 Ron Helin, provisional designation 1976 QB, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner region of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 27 August 1976, by American astronomer Schelte Bus at Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California.
Malcolm Hartley is an English-born astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and comets, who works with the UK Schmidt Telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.
Maria Antonella Barucci is an Italian astronomer at the Observatory-Meudon, Paris. She is credited by the Minor Planet Center with a total of 3 minor planet discoveries she made in 1984 and 1985. Most notably is her joint discovery with R. Scott Dunbar of the near-Earth and Aten asteroid 3362 Khufu at Palomar Observatory, as well as her co-discovery of the Apollo asteroid 3752 Camillo.
References
- 1 2 "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- 1 2 3 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(3718) Dunbar". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (3718) Dunbar. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 314. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_3715. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
- ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
