Dr. David J. Lane (born 1963) is a Canadian astronomer at
Saint Mary's University, the past president of the
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, director of the Burke-Gaffney
astronomical observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
,
[The Burke-Gaffney Observatory]
/ref> owner of the Abbey-Ridge Observatory,[The Earth Centered Universe Planetarium Software]
/ref> 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.
...
117032 Davidlane is named in his honour, and the 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.
...
lies in the main asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
between Mars and Jupiter. He was awarded Doctor of Science, ''honoris causa'', on January 27, 2024 by Saint Mary's University.[Request your own astronomical images via Twitter]
/ref> The impetus is to foster awareness of the Universe, by enabling citizens to readily access an observatory using social media, a project that has been heralded as an important innovation by international media.[Twitter users control Saint Mary's University observatory]
/ref>[Social Media Opens Telescope Operations to the World]
/ref>
Lane, and fellow Canadian astronomer Paul Gray, discovered supernova
A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...
s 1995F in NGC 2726,[Lane, D. J.; Gray, P.; Filippenko, A. V.; Barth, A. ]
"Supernova 1995F in NGC 2726"
''IAU Circ.'' , 6138, 1, 1995 SN 2005B in UGC 11066, and 2005ea in MCG+10-16-61.[Lane, D. J.; Gray, ]
"Supernova 2005ea in MGC+10-16-61"
''Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams'', 224, 1, 2005 Kathryn Aurora Gray examined images acquired by Lane via his Abbey Ridge Observatory and discovered a supernova in UGC 3378 ( SN 2010lt). Kathryn subsequently became the youngest person to have discovered a supernova.[BBC: Canadian girl youngest to discover supernova]
/ref>
Lane was a featured guest on comet hunter David H. Levy
David Howard Levy (born May 22, 1948) is a Canadian amateur astronomer, science writer and discoverer of comets and minor planets, who co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 in 1993, which collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994.
Biography
L ...
's internet radio show: ''Let's Talk Stars''.[David & Wendee Levy's ''Let's Talk Stars'', 10/03/06]
/ref>
Observations from Lane's astronomical observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
have also been used to improve the cosmic distance ladder.[Turner, D., Majaess, D., Lane, D., Rosvick, J., Henden, A., Balam, D]
"The Galactic Calibration of the Cepheid Period-Luminosity Relation and its Implications for the Universal Distance Scale"
''Odessa variable stars 2010 conference proceedings, edited by I. Andronov and V. Kovtyukh'', 2010.
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, David J.
Living people
21st-century Canadian astronomers
Academic staff of the Saint Mary's University (Halifax)
1963 births
Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada