Stephen P. Synnott (born 1946) is an American astronomer and Voyager scientist at JPL, and expert in spacecraft optical navigation techniques. [1] [2] He has discovered several natural satellites of outer Solar System planets such as Metis, Puck, Larissa (recovered), Cressida, Thebe and Proteus. [3] [4]
The minor planet 6154 Stevesynnott, discovered by Henry E. Holt in 1990, was named in his honour. [1] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 July 1996 ( M.P.C. 27461). [5]
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.
Peter Kušnirák is a Slovak astronomer, discoverer of minor planets, and a prolific photometrist of light-curves at Ondřejov Observatory in the Czech Republic. He was married to Slovak astronomer Ulrika Babiaková with whom he discovered 123647 Tomáško, named after their son Tomáško.
Jana Tichá is a Czech astronomer and discoverer of minor planets. She studied at the University of Economics in Prague and graduated in 1987. In 1992 she was selected for the position of a director of the Kleť Observatory.
Pierre Antonini is a retired French mathematics professor and amateur astronomer who has discovered several minor planets and two supernovae at his private Observatoire de Bédoin located at Bédoin, southeastern France. For many of his discoveries he used a 16-cm telescope or a 30-cm telescope.
Giuseppe Forti was an Italian astronomer and a discoverer of asteroids.
Marco Cavagna was an Italian amateur astronomer.
Matthew J. Holman is a Smithsonian astrophysicist and lecturer at Harvard University. Holman studied at MIT, where he received his bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1989 and his PhD in planetary science in 1994. He was awarded the Newcomb Cleveland Prize in 1998.
Poul B. Jensen is a Danish astronomer and a discoverer of 98 minor planets while working at Brorfelde Observatory. Between 1967 and 1969 he assisted in positional observations with the observatory's 7" transit circle. He is also a co-discoverer of the Comet Jensen-Shoemaker (1987g1). As of 2004, he was still publishing in the Minor Planet Circulars.
4435 Holt, provisional designation 1983 AG2, is a stony asteroid, sizable Mars-crosser and binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 January 1983, by American astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California, United States. It was later named after American astronomer Henry E. Holt. The discovery of its companion was announced in January 2018.
1851 Lacroute, provisional designation 1950 VA, is an asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter.
Paul Herget was an American astronomer and director of the Cincinnati Observatory, who established the Minor Planet Center after World War II.
Walter Ferreri, originally from Buddusò in Sardinia, is an astronomer at the Italian Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, science writer and discoverer of minor planets.
Thierry Pauwels is a Belgian astronomer from the Royal Observatory of Belgium. Between 1996 and 2008 he discovered and co-discovered 146 minor planets. This makes him one of the top 100 minor planet discoverers.