Schelte John "Bobby" Bus (born 1956) is 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
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 num ...
University of Hawaii
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 ...
and deputy director of NASA's
Infrared Telescope Facility
The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (NASA IRTF) is a telescope optimized for use in infrared astronomy and located at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii. It was first built to support the Voyager missions and is now the US national facility ...
(IRTF) at the
Mauna Kea Observatory
The Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO) are a group of independent astronomical research facilities and large telescope observatories that are located at the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, United States. The facilities are located ...
in Hawaii, United States.
Biography
Bus graduated in 1979 from
Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
with a BS. In 1999, he received his Ph.D. from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...
. With MIT's
Richard Binzel
Richard "Rick" P. Binzel (born 1958) is an American astronomer and professor of planetary sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a discoverer of minor planets, photometrist and the inventor of the Torino Scale, a met ...
, Bus further added to the knowledge about
main-belt asteroids
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
in a spectroscopic survey published in 2002. This project was known as
Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey
An asteroid spectral type is assigned to asteroids based on their emission spectrum, color, and sometimes Astronomical albedo, albedo. These types are thought to correspond to an asteroid's surface composition. For small bodies that are not plane ...
, Phase II or SMASSII, which built on a previous survey of the main-belt asteroids. The visible-wavelength (435–925 nanometers) spectra data was gathered between August 1993 and March 1999. During his studies, he worked under the supervision of
Eugene Shoemaker
Eugene Merle Shoemaker (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997) was an American geologist. He co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn S. Shoemaker and David H. Levy. This comet hit Jupiter in July 1994: the impact was televi ...
. As of 2017, Bus is an Astronomer at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy and deputy director of NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility IRTF.
Awards and honors
Asteroid
3254 Bus
3254 Bus, provisional designation , is a rare-type Hildian asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately 32 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 October 1982, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's And ...
, which was discovered in 1982 by
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 ...
, was named in his honor.
Discoveries
In 1981, Bus discovered periodic
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 ...
87P/Bus
Comet 87P/Bus is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 6.5 years. It fits the definition of an Encke-type comet with ( TJupiter > 3; a < aJupiter). It was discovered by
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 ...
s, including: an
Apollo asteroid
The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. They are Earth-crossing asteroids that have an orbital semi-major axis greater than that of the Earth ...
,
2135 Aristaeus
2135 Aristaeus (1977 HA) is an Apollo asteroid discovered on April 17, 1977, by E. F. Helin and S. J. Bus at Palomar Observatory. It is named for Aristaeus, the son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene.
2135 Aristaeus is a potentially hazardous ast ...
, which will come within 13 lunar distances of the Earth on 30 March 2147; an
Amor asteroid
The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the archetype object 1221 Amor . The orbital perihelion of these objects is close to, but greater than, the orbital aphelion of Earth (i.e., the objects do not cross Earth's orbi ...
; and more than 40
Jupiter trojan
The Jupiter trojans, commonly called trojan asteroids or simply trojans, are a large group of asteroids that share the planet Jupiter's orbit around the Sun. Relative to Jupiter, each trojan librates around one of Jupiter's stable Lagrange p ...
s. The first of these was
3240 Laocoon
3240 Laocoon is a carbonaceous Jupiter trojan from the Trojan camp, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 7 November 1978, by American astronomers Eleanor Helin and Schelte Bus at Palomar Observatory in California. The D-type asteroid ...
, which he co-discovered with
Eleanor F. Helin
Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin (née Francis, 19 November 1932 – 25 January 2009) was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (Some sources ...
. Bus was also the discoverer of asteroids
5020 Asimov
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on each ...
and
4923 Clarke
4923 Clarke, provisional designation , is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 2 March 1981, by American astronomer Schelte Bus at the Siding Spring Observatory ...
, named after two
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...