Henry E. Holt (27 September 1929 - 5 May 2019) was an American

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 ...

and prolific discoverer of

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

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

s, who has worked as a planetary geologist at the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

and

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

Career

In the 1960s he studied the photometric properties of the lunar surface as part of the

Surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

and

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

programs. Between 1989 and 1993, he has discovered nearly 700

s, and ranks among the Top 30 discoverers in MPC's list. His discoveries including the potentially hazardous asteroid 4581 Asclepius, the numbered asteroid that has made the closest approach to Earth at the time, as well as the near-Earth asteroid 4544 Xanthus, and the main-belt asteroid 6312 Robheinlein, which he named after famous science fiction author,

Robert Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

. He is also a co-discoverer of the three periodic comets 121P/Shoemaker-Holt,

127P/Holt–Olmstead This is a list of periodic comets that were numbered by the Minor Planet Center after having been observed on at least two occasions. Their orbital periods vary from 3.2 to 366 years. there are 436 numbered comets (1P–436P), most of them being ...

(discovered with

C. Michelle Olmstead C. Michelle Olmstead (born 21 May 1969) is an American astronomer, asteroid discoverer and computer scientist. Early life and education Olmstead attended Northern Arizona University as an undergraduate student in physics and astronomy from 1989 ...

), and 128P/Shoemaker-Holt.

Awards and honors

The Mars-crossing asteroid 4435 Holt was named in his honor. The official naming citation was published by 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 ...

on 30 January 1991 (). Minor planet

4582 Hank __NOTOC__ Year 458 ( CDLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maiorianus and Leo (or, less frequently, year 1211 ' ...

is named after his son, Henry Reid Holt. Discovery originally attributed to Henry E. Holt and Norman G. Thomas

List of discovered minor planets

Henry Holt made some of his discoveries in collaboration with: Norman G. Thomas, David Levy, Jeffery A. Brown, , and

Carolyn Shoemaker Carolyn Jean Spellmann Shoemaker (June 24, 1929 – August 13, 2021) was an American astronomer and a co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9. She discovered 32 comets (then a record for the most by an individual) ...

References

External links

Henry Holt's Obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Henry E. 1929 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American astronomers Discoverers of asteroids Discoverers of comets Northern Arizona University faculty United States Geological Survey personnel *

Career

Awards and honors

List of discovered minor planets

See also

References

External links