Sonia Keys (1961 – August 13, 2018), formerly known as Kyle Smalley, was an American

amateur astronomer Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...

and a

discoverer of minor planets This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and distant objects). , the discovery of 612,011 numb ...

. She worked as an astronomer and software developer at 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 ...

. Asteroid 36445 Smalley was named after her.

Biography

As an electronics technician and nuclear

reactor operator A reactor operator (or nuclear reactor operator) is an individual at a nuclear power plant who is responsible for directly controlling a nuclear reactor from a control panel and is the only individual at a nuclear power plant who can directly alte ...

, she had served in the United States Navy aboard a submarine and was honorably discharged in 1982. In 1986, she completed her bachelor degree in Mathematics and Computer Science at the

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profes ...

. Keys was engaged in the study of

near-Earth asteroids A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...

and developed procedures to search

lost asteroids 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 ...

. She was a member of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City and most of her observations were made at their

Powell Observatory Powell Observatory is an astronomical observatory located near Louisburg in Miami County, Kansas. It features several large telescopes and is available for public viewing, for private use of Astronomical Society of Kansas City members, and for o ...

in Kansas. She also worked as a consultant at the

(MPC) of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

. The asteroid 36445 Smalley, discovered by amateur astronomer Larry Robinson at the

Sunflower Observatory The list of asteroid-discovering observatories contains a section for each observatory which has discovered one or more asteroids, along with a list of those asteroids. For each numbered asteroid, the Minor Planet Center lists one or more dis ...

in August 2000, was named in her honor. The official was published by the MPC on September 21, 2002 (). In 2003 she won the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. She died of cancer in Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 13, 2018. On 25 March 2021, the MPC credited her with the discovery of asteroid , she first observed at the Powell Observatory on 14 August 2001.

References

2003 ASP Award Winners Press Release
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keys, Sonia 1961 births 2018 deaths American women astronomers Amateur astronomers Discoverers of minor planets 20th-century American astronomers 21st-century American astronomers

Biography

See also

References