Brian A. Skiff is an American
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
noted for discovering numerous
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
s and a number of
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...
s including the periodic comets
114P/Wiseman–Skiff (with
Jennifer Wiseman
Jennifer J. Wiseman is Senior Project Scientist on the Hubble Space Telescope, and an American astronomer, born in Mountain Home, Arkansas. She earned a bachelor's degree in physics from MIT and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard University in 19 ...
) and
140P/Bowell–Skiff (with
Edward Bowell
Edward L. G. "Ted" Bowell (born 1943 in London), is an American astronomer. Bowell was educated at Emanuel School London, University College, London, and the University of Paris.
He was principal investigator of the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth ...
).
Biography
Skiff received his BS from
Northern Arizona University
Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state.
...
in 1977 and has worked as an astronomer at
Lowell Observatory
Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark ...
since 1976.
Between 1980 and 1997, he has also discovered a total 60 numbered
minor planet
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...
s,
including , a dark
Jupiter trojan
The Jupiter trojans, commonly called trojan asteroids or simply trojans, are a large group of asteroids that share the planet Jupiter's orbit around the Sun. Relative to Jupiter, each trojan librates around one of Jupiter's stable Lagrange poin ...
about 37 kilometers in diameter.
Working on the
LONEOS
Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) was a project designed to discover asteroids and comets that orbit near the Earth. The project, funded by NASA, was directed by astronomer Ted Bowell of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizo ...
project he rediscovered the long
lost asteroid
A minor planet is "lost" when today's observers cannot find it, because its location is too uncertain to target observations. This happens if the orbital elements of a minor planet are not known accurately enough, typically because the observat ...
69230 Hermes
69230 Hermes is a sub-kilometer sized asteroid and binary system on an eccentric orbit, classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group, that passed Earth at approximately twice the distance of the Moon o ...
in October 2003 and the
Apohele asteroid
Atira asteroids or Apohele asteroids, also known as interior-Earth objects (IEOs), are asteroids whose orbits are entirely confined within Earth's orbit; that is, their orbit has an aphelion (farthest point from the Sun) smaller than Earth's peri ...
in May 2004.
He is also a
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
player with the Mars Hill summer volleyball squad.
Awards and honors
The Florian main-belt asteroid
2554 Skiff
2554 Skiff, provisional designation , is a Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 17 July 1980, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station near Fl ...
was named in his honour.
The official naming citation was published by the
Minor Planet Center
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.
Function
...
on 8 April 1982 ().
Skiff received the
Texas Star Party
The Texas Star Party (TSP) is a large annual star party in the United States.
TSP was started by Deborah Byrd, members of the Austin Astronomical Society, and McDonald Observatory in August 1979. It was a weekend gathering of amateur astronomer ...
’s Lone Star Gazer Award in 1986.
List of discovered minor planets
Brian Skiff is credited with the discovery and co-discovery of 60 minor planets between 1981 and 1997. The co-discovery of
2557 Putnam,
3256 Daguerre,
3807 Pagels and
4193 Salanave he made in collaboration with
Norman G. Thomas .
See also
*
Works
Skiff has published 122 refereed papers on astronomy.
His most cited paper is:
*
He is also the author of two books:
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skiff, Brian A.
American astronomers
Discoverers of asteroids
*
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)