Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld (; 21 October 1921 – 30 March 2015) was a Dutch
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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
.
Background
In a jointly credited trio with
Tom Gehrels
Anton M.J. "Tom" Gehrels (February 21, 1925 – July 11, 2011) was a Dutch–American astronomer, Professor of Planetary Sciences, and Astronomer at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
Biography
Youth and education
Gehrels was born at Haa ...
and her husband
Cornelis Johannes van Houten
Cornelis Johannes van Houten (18 February 1920 – 24 August 2002) was a Dutch astronomer, sometimes referred to as Kees van Houten.
Early life and education
Born in The Hague, he spent his entire career at Leiden University except for a brief pe ...
, she was the discoverer of many thousands of
asteroids (credited by the
Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 4,641 numbered minor planets).
In the
Palomar–Leiden survey
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, ...
, Gehrels took the images using the
48-inch Schmidt telescope at
Palomar Observatory and shipped the
photographic plates to the van Houtens at
Leiden Observatory
Leiden Observatory ( nl, Sterrewacht Leiden) is an astronomical institute of Leiden University, in the Netherlands. Established in 1633 to house the quadrant of Rudolph Snellius, it is the oldest operating university observatory in the world, wit ...
, who analyzed them for new asteroids. The trio are jointly credited with several thousand asteroid discoveries. Van Houten-Groeneveld died on 30 March 2015, at the age of 93, in
Oegstgeest
Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in .
Etymology
The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeenth cen ...
, Netherlands.
The
Themistian main-belt asteroid
1674 Groeneveld – discovered by
Karl Reinmuth
Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth (4 April 1892 in Heidelberg – 6 May 1979 in Heidelberg) was a German astronomer and a prolific discoverer of 395 minor planets.
Scientific career
From 1912 to 1957, Reinmuth was working as an astronomer at the Heid ...
at Heidelberg and independently discovered by Finnish astronomer
Yrjö Väisälä
Yrjö Väisälä (; 6 September 1891 – 21 July 1971) was a Finnish astronomer and physicist.
His main contributions were in the field of optics. He was also active in geodetics, astronomy and optical metrology. He had an affectionate ni ...
in 1938, was named in her honor ().
Publications
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References
External links
I. van Houten-Groeneveld home pageSymposium 85e verjaardagof 4 November 2006 (in Dutch)
2005 Annual report of the Leiden Observatory see page 6.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houten-Groeneveld, Ingrid van
1921 births
2015 deaths
21st-century Dutch astronomers
20th-century women scientists
Discoverers of asteroids
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20th-century Dutch astronomers
Dutch women scientists
Leiden University faculty
Scientists from Berlin
Women astronomers