Carolyn S. Shoemaker

Carolyn S. Shoemaker

Born June 24, 1929 (1929-06-24) (age 82)
Gallup, New Mexico, United States
Nationality American
Fields Astronomy
Institutions California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, California
Palomar Observatory, San Diego, California
Known for co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9
Notable awards National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal

Carolyn Jean Spellmann Shoemaker (born 1929) is an American astronomer and is a co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9.[1] She holds the record for most comets discovered by an individual.[2]

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Personal life

Carolyn Jean Spellmann was born in Gallup, New Mexico, United States.[2] She is the widow of Eugene Shoemaker, who was also an astronomer.[2]

Career

Shoemaker started her astronomical career in 1980, searching for Earth-crossing asteroids and comets at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, and the Palomar Observatory, San Diego, California.[3]

In the 1980s and 1990s, Shoemaker used film taken at the wide-field telescope at the Palomar Observatory, combined with a stereoscope, to find objects which moved against the background of fixed stars.[2]

As of 2002, Shoemaker had discovered 32 comets and over 800 asteroids (counting the as-yet unnumbered ones).[2][3]

Awards

Shoemaker received an honorary doctorate from the Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1996.[2] She and her husband were awarded the James Craig Watson Medal by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1998.[4]

Asteroids discovered

References

External links