Tom Gehrels | |
|---|---|
 Gehrels at Spacewatch Telescope 1980's | |
| Born | February 21, 1925 |
| Died | July 11, 2011 (aged 86) Tucson, Arizona, United States |
| Nationality | Dutch–American |
| Occupation | Astronomer |
Anton M.J. "Tom" Gehrels [1] (February 21, 1925 – July 11, 2011) was a Dutch–American [2] astronomer, Professor of Planetary Sciences, and Astronomer at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
Gehrels was born at Haarlemmermeer, the Netherlands on February 21, 1925. He was born in bible-belt Netherlands, and was forced to attend church regularly, an act he despised. When he was older he rejoiced when he found out his childhood church had been destroyed. [3] During World War II he was, as a teenager, active in the Dutch Resistance. [1] After he escaped to England, he was sent back by parachute as an organizer for Special Operations Executive SOE committing sabotage against the German forces. [1]
After the war, he attended the University of Leiden where he graduated with a degree in physics and astronomy in 1951. He continued his education at the University of Chicago where he obtained his doctorate in astronomy and astrophysics in 1956 under Professor Gerard P. Kuiper [ citation needed ]. In 1960, he moved to the University of Arizona along with Gerard Kuiper where he would remain for the next 50 years. [4]
| C/1972 F1 (Gehrels) | 16 March 1972 |
| 64P/Swift-Gehrels* | 8 February 1973 |
| 78P/Gehrels 2 | 29 September 1973 |
| 82P/Gehrels 3 | 27 October 1975 |
| 90P/Gehrels 1 | 11 October 1972 |
| 270P/Gehrels | 1 February 1997 |
| * in 1889 by Swift, rediscovered | |
|---|---|
| 1778 Alfvén | 26 September 1960 |
| 1864 Daedalus | 24 March 1971 |
| 1873 Agenor | 25 March 1971 |
| 1979 Sakharov | 24 September 1960 |
| 2247 Hiroshima | 24 September 1960 |
| also see Discoveries by Tom Gehrels | |
|---|---|
Gehrels pioneered the first photometric system of asteroids in the 1950s, and wavelength dependence of polarization of stars and planets in the 1960s, each resulting in an extended sequence of papers in the Astronomical Journal.
He discovered, jointly with the husband and wife team of Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, over 4000 asteroids, including Apollo asteroids, Amor asteroids, as well as dozens of Trojan asteroids. That was done in a sky survey using the 48-inch Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory and shipping the plates to the two Dutch astronomers at Leiden Observatory, who analyzed them for new asteroids. The trio are jointly credited with several thousand discoveries. Gehrels also discovered a number of comets.
He was Principal Investigator for the Imaging Photopolarimeter experiment on the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 first flybys of Jupiter and Saturn in the 1970s.
Gehrels initiated the Space Science Series of textbooks, was General Editor for the first 30 volumes of the University of Arizona Press, and set the style by participating in the editing of six of them. [4] He also initiated the Spacewatch program in 1980 and was its Principal Investigator (PI) for electronic surveying to obtain statistics of asteroids and comets, including near-Earth asteroids. Bob McMillan was co-investigator and manager, and became the PI in 1997.
Gehrels taught an undergraduate course for non-science majors in Tucson in the Fall, and lectured a brief version of that in the Spring at the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad, India. His recent research was on cosmology and evolution of the universe, [4] which was woven in as the guiding thread through these courses. He was the named winner of the 2007 Harold Masursky Award for his outstanding service to planetary science.
Gehrels was requested by the Journal Nature to write a review on a book regarding Wernher von Braun, in which he quotes inmates of concentration camp Dora. He has therefore charged that von Braun was there regularly and much in charge, and that von Braun bears greater responsibility and guilt than his official biography would imply. [6] Towards the end of the book review it reads: Von Braun needs no phony defense, for he was a great man in his own scientific specialization... What is needed is a more sophisticated historical perspective....
Tom Gehrels was the husband of Aleida J. Gehrels (née de Stoppelaar) and father of Neil Gehrels, George Gehrels and Jo-Ann Gehrels. He died in Tucson, Arizona. The minor planet 1777 Gehrels was named in his honour. [7] The professional and personal papers of Tom Gehrels are held at the University of Arizona.
M-type asteroids are a spectral class of asteroids which appear to contain higher concentrations of metal phases than other asteroid classes, and are widely thought to be the source of iron meteorites.
Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld was a Dutch astronomer.
Cornelis Johannes "Kees" van Houten was a Dutch astronomer.
2934 Aristophanes, provisional designation 4006 P-L, is a carbonaceous Veritasian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey in 1960, and later named after ancient Greek dramatist Aristophanes.
1810 Epimetheus, provisional designation 4196 P-L, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter.
C. Michelle Olmstead is an American astronomer, asteroid discoverer and computer scientist.
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.
1002 Olbersia is a background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 15 August 1923, by Russian astronomer Vladimir Albitsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The assumed C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 10.2 hours and measures approximately 24 kilometers in diameter. It was named after German astronomer Heinrich Olbers (1758–1840).
9999 Wiles, provisional designation 4196 T-2, is a Koronian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 to 7 kilometers in diameter. It was named after British mathematician Andrew Wiles.
Stace Victor Murray Clube is an English astrophysicist.
9912 Donizetti, provisional designation 2078 T-3, is a stony Rafita asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 km in diameter. It was discovered during the third Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey in 1977, and named after Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti.
6805 Abstracta, provisional designation 4600 P-L, is a carbonaceous Themistian asteroid and slow rotator from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter.
2061 Anza, provisional designation 1960 UA, is an eccentric asteroid of the Amor group, a subtype of near-Earth objects, estimated to measure approximately 2.7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 October 1960, by American astronomer Henry Giclas at Lowell's Flagstaff Observatory in Arizona, United States. The asteroid was later named after Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza.
1777 Gehrels, also designated 4007 P-L, is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey in 1960, and named for astronomer Tom Gehrels, one of the survey's principal investigators and credited discoverer.
1776 Kuiper, provisional designation 2520 P-L, is a dark Eoan asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 38 kilometers in diameter.
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.
5756 Wassenbergh, provisional designation 6034 P-L, is a Rafita asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1960, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at the Palomar Observatory in California, United States. The asteroid was named after Dutch professor of law, Henri Wassenbergh.
The Palomar–Leiden survey (PLS) was a successful astronomical survey to study faint minor planets in a collaboration between the U.S Palomar Observatory and the Dutch Leiden Observatory, and resulted in the discovery of thousands of asteroids, including many Jupiter trojans.
Mildred Shapley Matthews was a book editor and writer known for astronomy books. She was the daughter of astronomers Harlow Shapley and Martha Betz Shapley; her father named the asteroid 878 Mildred for her.
I shook his bony hand. Suddenly he frowned and looked wounded, recalling the compulsory church visits in the small Dutch village of Halfweg, where he was raised. But then his face brightened again as he said: "Have you been there recently? They've torn it down! It's torn down!"
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