Leif Erland Andersson (4 November 1943 – 4 May 1979) was a Swedish
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 ...
.
Early life
Andersson had been a child prodigy who won the Swedish
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
quiz show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...
''10.000-kronorsfrågan'' ("The 10,000 Kronor Question") twice, the first time at age 16.
From his late teen years, he was also a well-known
science fiction fan
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...
in Sweden, who chaired the MalCon in 1966 in
Malmö
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
and took over editing the pioneering Swedish science fiction amateur journal, the ''Scandinavian Amateur Press Alliance'' (SAPA) after
John-Henri Holmberg
John-Henri Bertilson Holmberg (born 22 June 1949 in Stockholm) is a Swedish author, critic, publisher and translator, and a well-known science fiction fan. In the early 1960s he edited ''Science fiction Forum'' with Bertil Mårtensson and Mat ...
left the position some time after 1964.
Professional career
Andersson studied astronomy at
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
in 1968.
He studied the work of Professor
Åke Wallenquist
Åke Anders Edvard Wallenquist (January 16, 1904 – April 8, 1994) was a Swedish astronomer. He worked at the Dutch Bosscha Observatory in Indonesia between 1928 and 1935, and became assistant professor at Uppsala's Kvistabergs Observatori ...
, at Uppsala University. Andersson later went to
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...
to complete his PhD degree. While there, he married Gloria Ptacek in 1973 at the Beck Chapel of Indiana University.
Andersson was hired in a post-doctoral research associate position in the summer of 1973 by Dr.
Gerard Kuiper
Gerard Peter Kuiper (; ; born Gerrit Pieter Kuiper; 7 December 1905 – 23 December 1973) was a Dutch astronomer, planetary scientist, selenographer, author and professor. He is the eponymous namesake of the Kuiper belt.
Kuiper is c ...
at the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory of the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
in
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
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. Andersson calculated the first observable transits of
Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...
and
Charon
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...
(that took place in the early 1980s) but did not live to see them.
He mapped the far side of the moon in NASA's ''Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature'', with co-author Ewen Whitaker, published in 1982.
Death
Leif Andersson died from
lymphatic cancer
Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...
at the age of 35 on 4 May 1979. He was survived by his wife, Gloria Lee Andersson (née Ptacek).
pole
Pole may refer to:
Astronomy
*Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets
*Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...
position, the
Spacewatch
The Spacewatch Project is an astronomical survey that specializes in the study of minor planets, including various types of asteroids and comets at University of Arizona telescopes on Kitt Peak near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The Sp ...
Asteroid Project at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory named the asteroid
9223 Leifandersson
9223 Leifandersson, provisional designation , is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 18 December 1995, by astronomers of the Spacewatch program at Kitt ...