Michael Francis A'Hearn (November 17, 1940 – May 29, 2017) 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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either o ...

and astronomy professor at the

University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) at the University of Maryland, College Park, is home to ten academic departments and a dozen interdisciplinary research centers and institutes. CMNS is one of 13 schools and colleg ...

. He was also the principal investigator for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

's EPOXI mission.

Career

He received his B.A. in science at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

and his Ph.D. in

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. He was the principal investigator for the

'' Deep Impact'' mission. He aided in the development of systems for surveying abundances in comets as well as techniques for determining the sizes of cometary nuclei which uses optical and infrared measurements. His studies focused on comets as well as asteroids and he also supervises numerous graduate students. He was an elected fellow of the

AAAS AAAS may refer to: * American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a learned society and center for policy research; the publisher of the journal ''Dædalus'' * American Association for the Advancement of Science, an organization that supports scientifi ...

. He authored over 100 papers published in journals and was also an avid sailor who had a commercial coast guard license. In June 1986, the main-belt asteroid

3192 A'Hearn 3192 A'Hearn, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, ...

, discovered by American astronomer

Edward Bowell Edward L. G. "Ted" Bowell (born 1943 in London), is an American astronomer. Bowell was educated at Emanuel School London, University College, London, and the University of Paris. He was principal investigator of the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth ...

at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, was named after him in honor of his contributions to

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 (cometary), coma, and sometimes also a Comet ta ...

ary science. In 2008, he received the Gerard P. Kuiper Prize. He died on May 29, 2017 at the age of 76.

Honors

Awards

NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal The NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (abbreviated ESAM) was established by NASA on September 15, 1961, when the original ESM was divided into three separate awards. Under the current guidelines, the ESAM is awarded for unusually sign ...

(2006) * Gerard P. Kuiper Prize (2008) *

(2012) * Gauß-Professur (2014) * NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal (2017)

Eponym

, an

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the Solar System#Inner solar system, 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 o ...

of the inner main-belt named after A'Hearn

References

External links

Michael F. A'Hearn's homepage

Kuiper Prize website of the American Astronomical Society

Nasa bio on Deep Impact website

NASA EPSM award website
{{DEFAULTSORT:A'Hearn, Michael 1940 births 2017 deaths American astronomers Boston College alumni Place of birth missing University of Maryland, College Park faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni