Pierre Antonini is a retired
French mathematics professor and
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 ...
who has discovered several
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 and two
supernovae at his private
Observatoire de Bédoin (Bedoin Observatory; observatory code:
132) located at
Bédoin, southeastern France. For many of his discoveries he used a 16-cm telescope or a 30-cm telescope.
He is a prolific discoverer of
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. 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
...
(MPC) credits him with the discovery of 35 numbered minor planets between 1997–1999. As of March 2016, the MPC ranks him 204th in the all-time, top-astronomer chart by number of discovered bodies.
Antonini is also credited with the discovery of the supernovae and .
In January 2004, he co-discovered
S/2003 (1089) 1, a
minor planet moon
A minor-planet moon is an astronomical object that orbits a minor planet as its natural satellite. , there are 457 minor planets known or suspected to have moons. Discoveries of minor-planet moons (and binary objects, in general) are important ...
orbiting the main-belt asteroid 1089 Tama.
The 7-kilometer sized main-belt asteroid
12580 Antonini, discovered by Laurent Bernasconi in 1999, was named in his honour.
List of discovered minor planets
See also
*
International Astronomical Union Circular
*
List of French astronomers
The following are list of French astronomers, astrophysicists and other notable French people who have made contributions to the field of astronomy. They may have won major prizes or awards, developed or invented widely used techniques or technolo ...
*
List of minor planet discoverers
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 num ...
References
External links
SN 2000B images by P. Antonini
Discoverers of asteroids
Discoverers of supernovae
*
20th-century French astronomers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
{{France-astronomer-stub