Eleanor F. Helin
American astronomer (1932–2009) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin (née Francis,[2] 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.[3][4][5] (Some sources give her name as Eleanor Kay Helin.)
Eleanor F. Helin | |
---|---|
Born | Eleanor Frances Helin (1932-11-19)19 November 1932 |
Died | 25 January 2009(2009-01-25) (aged 76) |
Alma mater | Occidental College |
Known for | discoverer of minor planets |
Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions | Caltech · JPL |
Notable students | Celina Mikolajczak |
see § List of discovered minor planets |
Helin was a prolific discoverer of minor planets (see list) and several comets, including periodic comets 111P/Helin–Roman–Crockett, 117P/Helin–Roman–Alu and 132P/Helin–Roman–Alu. She is credited as the discoverer of the object now known as both asteroid 4015 Wilson–Harrington and comet 107P/Wilson–Harrington. Although Wilson and Harrington preceded her by some decades, their observations did not establish an orbit for the object, while her rediscovery did. Helin discovered or co-discovered 903 asteroids and several comets.[6]