David C. Jewitt

David Jewitt.

David C. Jewitt (born 1958) is an English astronomer and professor of astronomy at UCLA's Earth, Planetary, and Space Science Department in California. He is best known for having discovered the first body in the Kuiper belt.[1]

Career

He was born in 1958 in England, and is a 1979 graduate of University College, London (UCL). Jewitt received an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in astronomy at the California Institute of Technology in 1980 and 1983, respectively. His research interests cover all aspects of the solar system, including the trans-Neptunian Solar System, Solar System formation, ice in the asteroids and the physical properties of comets. Along with Jane Luu, he discovered the first Kuiper belt object (other than Pluto and its largest moon Charon) in 1992 and subsequently identified dozens of additional belt members in a series of pioneering wide field surveys. From these, he discovered that the belt is dynamically divided into regions – the classical Kuiper belt (circular, uninclined orbits, exemplified by 1992 QB1), the scattered disc (also called the "scattered Kuiper belt", which bodies have large elliptical orbits with perihelion near Neptune, discovered in 1997) and the Resonant Kuiper belt objects, whose periods are related simply to Neptune's. Those resonant objects in the 3:2 mean-motion resonance he called plutinos as a reminder that Pluto is one such object. These resonant objects can only be explained if Neptune migrated outwards, opening the door to new models of the Solar System in which unsuspected planet-disk and planet-planet interactions can be important.

Jewitt is a member of several national academies. He was awarded the Shaw Prize in 2012 (along with Jane Luu of MIT Lincoln Laboratory) for the "discovery and characterization of trans-Neptunian bodies, an archeological treasure dating back to the formation of the solar system and the long-sought source of short period comets". He was also awarded the Kavli Prize (shared with Luu and Michael Brown) in the same year.

He is a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.[2]

Jewitt is also featured in the 1985 BBC Horizon episode Halley's Comet: The Apparition (season 22, episode 17), which documents how — in October 1982 — he was the first to recover the comet before its 1986 visit.

He has also discovered the Jovian moon Adrastea on images taken by Voyager 2 in 1979,[1] and is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of more than 40 minor planets.[3] The inner main-belt asteroid 6434 Jewitt, discovered by Edward Bowell in 1981, was named in his honor.[1] Naming citation was published on 1 July 1996 (M.P.C. 27462).[4]

Publications

Minor planets discovered: 45 [3]
10370 Hylonome[1] 27 February 1995
(15760) 1992 QB1[1] 20 August 1992
(15807) 1994 GV9[2] 15 April 1994
(15809) 1994 JS[1] 11 May 1994
(15820) 1994 TB[2] 2 October 1994
(15836) 1995 DA2[1] 24 February 1995
(15874) 1996 TL66[1][2][3] 9 October 1996
(15875) 1996 TP66[1][3] 11 October 1996
(15883) 1997 CR29[2][3] 3 February 1997
(19308) 1996 TO66[1][3] 12 October 1996
(20108) 1995 QZ9[2] 29 August 1995
(20161) 1996 TR66[1][2][3] 8 October 1996
(24952) 1997 QJ4[1][3][4] 28 August 1997
(24978) 1998 HJ151[1][3][5] 28 April 1998
(32929) 1995 QY9[2] 31 August 1995
(33001) 1997 CU29[1][2][3] 6 February 1997
(59358) 1999 CL158[1][3] 11 February 1999
66652 Borasisi[1][3] 8 September 1999
79360 Sila-Nunam[1][2][3] 3 February 1997
(79969) 1999 CP133[1][3] 11 February 1999
(79978) 1999 CC158[1][3][6] 15 February 1999
(79983) 1999 DF9[1][3] 20 February 1999
(91554) 1999 RZ215[1][3] 8 September 1999
(118228) 1996 TQ66[1][2][3] 8 October 1996
(129746) 1999 CE119[1][3] 10 February 1999
(131695) 2001 XS254[6][7] 9 December 2001
(131696) 2001 XT254[6][7] 9 December 2001
(131697) 2001 XH255[6][7] 11 December 2001
(134568) 1999 RH215[1][3] 7 September 1999
(137294) 1999 RE215[1][3] 7 September 1999
(137295) 1999 RB216[1][3] 8 September 1999
(148112) 1999 RA216[1][3] 8 September 1999
(148975) 2001 XA255[6][7] 9 December 2001
(168700) 2000 GE147[3][6] 2 April 2000
(181708) 1993 FW[1] 28 March 1993
(181867) 1999 CV118[1][3] 10 February 1999
(181868) 1999 CG119[1][3] 11 February 1999
(181871) 1999 CO153[1][3] 12 February 1999
(181902) 1999 RD215[1][3] 6 September 1999
(385185) 1993 RO[1] 14 September 1993
(385201) 1999 RN215[1][3] 7 September 1999
(415720) 1999 RU215[1][3] 7 September 1999
(469306) 1999 CD158 [1][3] 10 February 1999
(469420) 2001 XP254 [6][7] 10 December 2001
(469421) 2001 XD255 [6][7] 9 December 2001
  1. 1 with J. X. Luu
  2. 2 with J. Chen
  3. 3 with C. A. Trujillo
  4. 4 with K. Berney
  5. 5 with D. J. Tholen
  6. 6 with S. S. Sheppard
  7. 7 with J. T. Kleyna
  8. 8 credited to Mauna Kea Observatories
Uncredited (currently):
58534 Logos[8] 4 February 1997

A selection of his recent publications includes:

References

  1. 1 2 3 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (6434) Jewitt. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 532. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  2. ↑ "Gruppe 2: Astronomi, fysikk og geofysikk" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
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